Nutrition Mentoring PODS

Grow your professional network, make a plan for graduate school, and receive guidance from Registered Dietitian Nutritionists!

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Nutrition Mentoring PODS is a completely virtual mentorship program that matches undergraduate students from Main, Yuma, and Arizona Online campuses with a small group of mentors, including graduate-level dietetics students and UArizona alumni, faculty, and staff who are Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs). This program is designed to promote a sense of belonging and to support students from diverse backgrounds who aspire to become dietetics professionals.

In the Nutrition Mentoring PODS program, students attend monthly scheduled online meetings and receive guidance on how to explore and set goals to advance in the dietetics profession.

As an undergraduate student, you will grow your professional network, make a plan to get into graduate school and earn your RDN credential, and gain valuable insights from current graduate students along the way. 

As a student mentee in the Nutrition Mentoring PODS program, you will grow your network in dietetics and participate in activities to support you as you prepare to apply to graduate school and pursue careers in nutrition and dietetics professions. All students majoring in degrees in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness are welcome to participate in Mentoring PODS meetings anytime they are offered.

If you would like to receive formal recognition for your participation in the Mentoring PODS program, please complete the following activities at your own convenience:

  1. Attend 1 virtual mentor meeting on Zoom each month, during the 2023-2024 academic year. Can't make all of them? No problem! At these virtual meetings on Zoom, you will be matched into a small group of fellow undergraduate and graduate nutrition students and an academic advisor or faculty member. You will spend about one hour discussing various topics and questions related to graduate school and careers in nutrition and dietetics. Please complete this worksheet for each Mentoring PODS meeting you attend; you will submit it when you are ready to claim your program completion certificate.
  2. Participate in a graduate school exploration class taught by an academic advisor and registered dietitian, and prepare an individualized action plan for applying to graduate programs (NSC 395B: Earning the RDN Credential). This class is offered online each fall and spring. Note: If cost of enrolling in NSC 395B is a barrier, please contact program coordinator, Cindy Kaiser, to discuss an alternative option.
  3. After you have completed NSC 395B: Earning the RDN Credential (1 unit) AND attended at least 3 Mentoring PODS meetings, please email cindyk@arizona.edu the following items: (1) Attached worksheets for each Mentoring PODS meeting you attended, and (2) Proof of completion of NSC 395B. After completing these activities, you will receive a certificate of completion via email, formally recognizing your commitment to planning and preparing for graduate school.

As a participant in the Nutrition Mentoring PODS Program, you will:

  • Participate in a graduate school / dietetic internship exploration class taught by an academic advisor and registered dietitian, and prepare an individualized action plan for applying to graduate programs (Fall 2022).
  • Attend 1 mentor meeting or program per month, between September 2022 and April 2023. At the start of the program, you will be matched into a small group of fellow undergraduate dietetics students, graduate dietetics students, and dietetics professionals. In these groups, you will discuss many topics related to graduate school and careers in dietetics. By the end of the year, your small mentoring group will become a part of your growing network of current and future dietetics professionals.
MONTH DATE & Time (All meeting times are in tucson, az time)
September September 26, 2023 | 6:30 pm
October October 24, 2023 | 6:30 pm
November November 28, 2023 | 6:30 pm
  • Increase your knowledge and understanding of how to apply for and be accepted into graduate school and dietetics pathways.
  • Increase the size of your network in dietetics.
  • Improve your preparedness and competitiveness to apply for dietetics graduate programs and jobs in dietetics.

For questions about the program, please contact:

Ashlee Linares-Gaffer, MS, RDN
Director of Student Success, Retention, and Equity
Associate Professor of Practice
alinares@arizona.edu (link sends email)