Faculty Mentoring Plan

Goals
The Department of Anesthesiology’s mentoring program is established to ensure the successful integration of new faculty members into the Department and their career advancement through the Promotion and Tenures process.  Our goal is to promote success in teaching, research, service and to retain faculty members within the department and the University.

The mentoring program will enhance skills by increasing professional networking opportunities, provide insight into new technologies, ideas and perspectives for teaching, research and clinical activities.  Ultimately, the purpose of the program is to create an environment in which junior faculty will be successful in obtaining promotion.

Matching Mentors and Mentees and Responsibilities

Mentoring will be provided for all (tenure track, clinical track) faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor (or any other rank desiring additional advising) in the Department.  The model of mentoring will consist of both a group mentoring section and one-on-one mentoring in which a senior faculty member is assigned to a junior faculty member.  Initial mentoring will occur within the Mentoring Committee and this Committee will assign on-going mentors.  New faculty members are also encouraged to identify additional mentors for other aspects of their career advancement.  Both the Mentor and the Mentee share responsibility for success.  The participation of both will be evaluated and included in the Annual Faculty Review Process.

Mentor Responsibilities – Mentoring a junior faculty member requires a significant commitment of time.  Mentors will be required to understand the workload assignment of the junior member, become familiar with the career goals of the junior member, and to actively seek out resources to assist the junior member both within the University of Arizona and in the larger academic/research community. 

Mentee Responsibilities – The junior faculty member is the most active member of this partnership.  The Mentee must form a clearly defined career path that includes goals and milestones in each of the following areas:  Clinical Service, Research, grants and publications, Teaching, Service and Outreach.  Clear communication of this plan will enable the mentor to make useful connections and suggest appropriate resources.

The Mentoring Committee will be the first point of contact for a Mentee.  This initial meeting will be to familiarize him/her with the program, discuss goals and objectives in broad terms, discuss the promotion and tenure process and the importance of record keeping even at the earliest stages to be prepared for mid-cycle and promotion reviews and for the Mentee to articulate their career and promotion goals.  Following this initial meeting the Committee will have a better understanding of the Mentees goals and objectives and can begin the search for the proper Mentor fit.

Expectations of the Mentor/Mentee relationship

Mentors should meet regularly with their assigned mentee with a minimum of quarterly meetings evaluation career progression.

Mentors are encouraged to evaluate their mentoring skills using materials provided through the Office of Faculty Affairs, and obtain additional training, as appropriate.  Some of those resources are included at the end of this document.

Mentors are encouraged to do the following:

  • Review/critique the mentee’s work. This would include reading manuscripts and providing constructive criticism in a timely manner, evaluating teaching or clinical work.
  • Provide practical advice about activities which will advance their career through the development of a national reputation. This might include assessment of committee invitations, journals in which to publish, time management, etc.
  • Review mentee’s plan for achieving his/her career goals, and advise about what needs to be done to be promoted
  • Provide connections for the mentee to others in their field, and pass on opportunities such as talks to give, and grants to seek.
  • Model all aspects of faculty behavior, including relations with the community, colleagues, staff and employees.
  • Provide institutional knowledge about what activities are rewarded, where resources may be found, and who has the power/influence to get things done.
  • Advocate for the mentee within the department, for example by assisting in assuring protected time for the mentee to achieve particular goals [e.g. grant submission].
  • Advise about balancing work and personal life
  • Invite to work related social events

Mentees are expected to: 1) think through their career goals; 2) seek timely feedback; 3) evaluate the mentoring relationship annually.

Resources

Research:
http://medicalresearch.arizona.edu/
http://medicalresearch.arizona.edu/FundingSources.cfm http://medicalresearch.arizona.edu/Grant%20Writing%20Resources.cfm http://medicalresearch.arizona.edu/Proposal%20Preparation%20Resources.cfm

Career/Promotion & Tenure:
http://www.facultyaffairs.med.arizona.edu/careerDevelopment.cfm http://www.facultyaffairs.med.arizona.edu/reviews.cfm

Teaching:
http://omse.medicine.arizona.edu/faculty-instructional-development