Mentoring Program
- Based on the value of mentoring in ensuring the success of junior faculty and enhancing the quality of their professional and personal lives, we
- Encourage strongly Assistant Professors to have at least one mentor with similar interests and/or relevant expertise
- Welcome Associate Professors in having a mentor
- Hope, but don’t require, senior faculty to serve as mentors.
- Faculty may
- Have a cadre, rather than a single, mentor to support diverse professional goals
- Have a mentor outside the department, but we recommend at least one mentor inside the department
- Mentor selection can occur as follows
- Junior faculty members may choose their own mentor(s) based on similar scientific, clinical or professional interests and/or someone who has shown particular interest in their professional growth and success
- Junior faculty who do not have a mentor preference are assigned a mentor based on similar interests and the mentee’s needs and goals
- Mentoring partnerships
- Should be trusting and collaborative
- Should support the mentee’s increasing career independence and autonomy (See Guidance for Supporting the Career Autonomy of Junior Faculty to Promote Scholarship)
- May agree to utilize a Mentoring Partnership Agreement to guide their interactions (See Mentoring Partnership Agreement)
- Mentor-mentee assignments
- Are reviewed annually
- Can be changed upon the request of either party, either at the annual review or off cycle, and requests for changes are honored
- Assistance in making a change can be provided by the Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, another Vice Chair, or the Chair
- For mentees, whose mentor is responsible for their annual Career Conference and Performance Review (CCPR), if there are concerns about the dual relationship, an alternative arrangement should be requested to the Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or the Chair.
Roles and Responsibilities of the Mentor
- Offer to meet with your mentee within the first 4-6 weeks of the start of the mentoring assignment and lay the foundation for the mentoring relationship
- Agree about confidentiality and its bounds
- Determine a means of communication to keep in touch
- Begin the process of establishing goals and expectations for the mentee’s career trajectory and for the relationship
- Meet regularly on a mutually agreed upon schedule to
- Provide guidance (e.g., Emory system, promotion process, specific content areas)
- Stimulate questions about specific career interests
- Provide emotional support and advice if needed
- Plan experiences and activities
- Offer resources to assist in career growth and exposure
- Promote independence and autonomy for the mentee
- Offer opportunities for networking and career advancement (e.g., offer co-authorship on invited papers or chapters, recommend for appointment to committees, provide opportunities for journal article reviewing)
- Offer guidance on their mentoring with more junior colleagues
- Provide constructive feedback regarding the mentee’s strengths and potential areas for improvement
- Follow-up on progress
- Address concerns and barriers to progress
- Serve as an advocate for the mentee (e.g., meet with the Chair or other senior leaders to help ensure the mentee has the resources and opportunities needed to excel)
- Reach out annually to mentee if no contact in the prior year
Roles and Responsibilities of the Mentee
- Be a driver of the mentoring relationship
- Reach out a minimum of quarterly to your mentor to arrange to meet
- Describe your expectations about what you want to achieve from the mentoring relationship
- Be prepared for all scheduled meetings (e.g., have an agenda/topics to discuss)
- Carry out agreed upon activities and follow through with suggestions and recommendations
- Work with your mentor to identify people and information that might be helpful to you
- Be open to ideas and suggestions offered to you by your mentor
- Share your honest self-assessment
- Review your career development goals and expectations for progress and the mentoring experience regularly