Faculty Development Core Aims

• Aim 1: Establish and implement a faculty mentoring and professional development program to enhance academic advancement and retain minoritized faculty.  
• Aim 2: Develop and implement an institution-wide education program for senior faculty and unit leadership (Chairs, Deans, Center Directors) to foster a culture of inclusive excellence. 
• Aim 3: Reduce isolation, build an inclusive and supportive community, and develop an institution-wide consortium of faculty with health disparities and equity research interests.   

Mentorship Program

The FIRST FIIRRE Faculty Development Core developed a mentoring program to support the new faculty in their career advancement.

The mentoring program uses the Developmental Network Approach (Kram & Higgins, 2009) and assigns a network of mentors consisting of a sponsor, two senior mentors, and two near-peer mentors to each FIRST FIIRRE faculty member (see Developmental Network Figure).

FIRST FIIRRE faculty and potential mentors complete a Mentee/Mentor Interest Survey and then are matched based on research interests and shared values and identities.

FIRST FIIRRE faculty and mentors complete online training “Optimizing the Practice of Mentoring” and participate in a mentor orientation session to define the roles and expectations, discuss communication preferences and relational skills, and outline the individual development planning process.

A link to the Individual Development Plan (IDP) template can be found here.

Resources

• Individual Development Plan template 
• NIH FIRST 
• National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity 
• Optimizing the Practice of Mentoring 101: For Research Mentors of Graduate Students, Fellows, and Early-Career Faculty