Mentoring Team Development
Upon joining the program, mentees should meet with the program director to discuss the program, initiate mentoring team development, and select a team of three mentors. Faculty mentees are encouraged to share the names of current mentors and mentoring needs to facilitate the process. The program director/associate dean for faculty affairs and steering committee can provide guidance and recommendations for mentors as needed. In addition, the mentoring program maintains a database of faculty mentors that will be shared with mentees. Each mentoring team will consist of:
- Career Mentor who will provide oversight and mentorship around career trajectory and professional goals
- Scientific Mentor who will provide oversight and mentorship around appropriate discipline-specific development and activities to advance research
- Networking and Personal Mentor who will provide oversight and mentorship around development of professional networks, goals and plans to acclimate to the University, and work-life balance.
Mentees should aim to finalize the mentoring team within three to six months of starting the program. Mentees should contact the program director/associate dean for faculty affairs to share the names and roles of the mentees.
Career Development Plan
The mentoring program will utilize the Clinical and Translational Research Institute sponsored Customized Career Development Plan to set and track career goals. Upon finalization of the mentoring team, the program director will share information for mentees and mentors to create their accounts. This web-based platform will allow mentees to plan and track goals, adjust timelines as needed, and interact with mentors throughout the process. The plan should outline personal development of these goals at the first few meetings occurring at the outset of the program. The program director/associate dean for faculty affairs and the steering committee can provide additional support for goal development. It is recommended that mentees share the plan with their department chair for feedback.
Meeting Schedule
- Mentors and mentees should develop a meeting schedule and plan at the outset of the program. An example meeting schedule is provided in the School of Public Health Faculty Mentoring Program Guidelines.
- Mentees should meet with each mentor individually throughout the program. For new faculty, it may be helpful to meet more often.
- The mentor should meet with the full mentoring team at a minimum of two to four times per year. At the initial group meeting, mentees should share their current CV with the team and lead a discussion and review of their career development plan. Progress toward and adjustment of these goals should be discussed at subsequent team meetings. At the meeting occurring closest to the time of the School of Public Health annual review, the mentee should provide their annual review material for feedback from the mentoring team. Mentees should inform the Program Director/ADFA when meetings are completed.
- Mentees in the tenure stream will participate in a mid-course review in the third year of the faculty appointment to provide guidance for a successful tenure and promotion. This meeting will include the full mentoring team, Steering Committee department members, Department Chair, Program Director/ADFA, Associate Deans, and Dean. This meeting is intended to provide a constructive review of each faculty member's strengths and weaknesses, an assessment of the faculty member's progress toward tenure and promotion, and an opportunity to discuss goals for achieving tenure and promotion. Mentees should share a current CV, annual evaluations for all years, and teaching evaluations and lead a discussion of their progress toward goals, promotion, and tenure.
General Mentee Responsibilities
- Take responsibility for scheduling mentoring team meetings, proposing the agenda, and sending materials in advance as appropriate
- Engage the mentoring team in review of report, manuscript, and grant drafts. Mentees are required to additionally participate in departmental internal grant review programs.
- Work with the mentoring group to establish clearly defined benchmarks and timelines for achieving goals
- Engage mentors through consistent contact, dialogue, and collaboration to establish an active role in the mentoring process
- Keep an ongoing journal of meetings and activities; send copies of notes to mentorship team
- Evaluate the on-going relationship with the mentors and propose to restructure the team as necessary
- Keep the content and discussions of the team mentoring meeting materials confidential; the mentoring team may share personal information that they wish to be honored as confidential
- Monitor the School of Public Health website communications to identify professional development opportunities at the School and University
- Faculty who are eligible for the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) Program should consider applying. The Program Director will support faculty in preparation of their applications.
