Faculty Mentoring Program

Department of Biochemistry, April 2009

The success of junior faculty in establishing their careers is of utmost importance to the department. Therefore, all new faculty joining the department will be assigned a mentoring committee. This committee shall continue to provide support to junior faculty through their application for promotion and tenure.

Some research groups, e.g. the Center for Neuroscience, have very effective faculty mentoring plans. If a junior faculty member is aligned with such a unit, they can participate in the faculty mentoring plan of the unit or the Department of Biochemistry plan. Because the department performs teaching and service assignments as well as promotion and tenure evaluations, a departmental mentor may still be assigned to help with issues of career development as it relates to teaching and service.

Purpose

The plan is designed to provide a mechanism for mentoring junior faculty members in three broad areas; 1) institutional policies and procedures (including promotion and tenure), 2) grant writing and 3) career development.

Mentors

The chair will assign two senior faculty members to serve as mentors to each junior faculty member. One mentor will be scientifically aligned to provide insight on scientific issues. The other mentor is not expected to be scientifically aligned and is expected to provide more general insight into faculty and career development. It is recognized that all possible mentors may not be a suitable match for all junior faculty members and mentors can be reassigned upon further discussion between the junior faculty member and the chair.

Schedule of Meetings

The junior faculty member shall meet with the mentors at least twice a year, more frequently if necessary, e.g. during intense grant writing periods. The junior faculty member is responsible for setting up these meetings with the faculty mentors. The agenda for each meeting is chosen by the junior faculty member. A list of potential topics is provided on the following pages.

Responsibilities of the Junior Faculty Member

The junior faculty member is responsible for arranging meetings with their faculty mentors twice a year and setting the agenda for the meetings. In addition, the junior faculty member must take the initiative to ask for further assistance from their mentors, e.g. regarding manuscript preparation, grant writing, obtaining examples of grant formats etc. The goal of the junior faculty member is to utilize the mentors to keep on track for institutional promotion/tenure and for development of their career.

Responsibilities of the Faculty Mentors

The mentors are responsible for meeting with the junior faculty member at least twice a year and providing advice to the junior faculty member to the best of their ability. The mentors’ goal is to provide guidance to the junior faculty member to keep them on track for promotion/tenure. If necessary, the mentors should recruit additional expertise, e.g. another faculty member for specific advice on grant writing.

Review of the Faculty Mentoring Plan

As different junior faculty will have different mentors, there is a need to monitor uniformity of mentoring. The chair will call an annual meeting of the mentors to discuss topics and issues addressed with each of the junior faculty members and any differences in advice reconciled. The chair will annually solicit the opinions of the mentors and junior faculty members about the positive and negative aspects of the operation of the faculty mentoring plan and recommend any changes to the plan to the faculty.

Potential Topics of Interest to Junior Faculty Members

Orientation Meeting

One-year goals Five-year plan Timing of first internal grant submission Evaluation of publications and preliminary data Timeline for external grant submissionsLab size goals

Building the Lab

Basics (lab keys, phones, networking, ID) Ordering procedures Furniture Renovations Hiring staff/procedures Recruiting students

Regulatory Issues

IRB and human ethics training ACUC approval and animal usage exams/tour Biohazard approval

Teaching Assignments

Department-specific requirements Appropriate teaching areas Faculty Development series Improving teaching skills

Committee Assignments

Departmental requirements Search committees Student committees Administrative committees National committees

Grant Submissions

Internal grant mechanisms Internal review prior to submission-One major, several minor reviewers External reviewer(s) in research area Scheduling of grant writing Works in progress to present specific aims Grant writing seminars

Time Management

Log of one-week activities Course for time management Books on time management

Family Issues, if appropriate

Manuscript Writing

Organization of ideas for publication Time management to get papers written Appropriate journals for submission Balance of numbers vs. impact Relationship with former mentor

Keeping abreast of latest research in your field

PubMed searches Email with former labmates Contact with mentor Inviting or meeting with speakers Personal journal subscriptions, if necessary Meeting attendance

National Exposure

Manuscript reviews Grant review Editorial boards Invited seminars Scientific meetings Hosting seminar speakers in field Writing review articles

Promotion and Tenure preparations

Meeting peers at other institutions for letters of recommendation (invitations early in career) Preparation of file/format Teaching evaluations Service contributions Documentation (of everything)