UCSF Unveils Faculty Mentoring Program

UCSF is launching a mentoring program for junior and new faculty as another example of how the campus is responding to faculty development needs. This is the first time faculty mentoring will become institutionalized and directed across all four schools through the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The need for faculty mentoring was identified in results from the 2002 UCSF Faculty Climate Survey . Results from that survey strongly supported the need for a UCSF faculty mentoring program to help with the recruitment and retention of the highest-quality faculty, increase faculty diversity through improved mentoring of underrepresented faculty and improve faculty satisfaction. UCSF also has instituted other changes based on feedback from the faculty survey, including launching a faculty leadership development program. Mitchell D. Feldman, MD, MPhil, a professor of clinical medicine, was appointed last winter as the director of faculty mentoring. He is working closely with Sally Marshall, PhD, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, and the Chancellor's Council on Faculty Life to establish and oversee a mentoring program for UCSF faculty in all four schools. "The vision is for all UCSF faculty to feel supported in their pursuit of a successful and satisfying career, and for the UCSF faculty mentoring program to become recognized as a national center of excellence for mentoring in the health sciences," Feldman says. This summer, mentoring facilitators were appointed by their department chairs for each department/division in the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. Lists of the facilitators are included on the Academic Affairs website. The facilitators will work with Feldman to oversee all aspects of the mentoring program. A mentoring facilitator orientation is scheduled for Monday, Sept.11, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Millberry Conference Center City Lights Room on the Parnassus campus. Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost A. Eugene Washington, MD, and Associate Vice Chancellor Marshall will provide opening remarks at the orientation. Mentoring facilitators also will hear an overview of the program and review a mentoring "tool kit." Mentees (junior faculty up to associate level and new faculty) will be paired with at least one recognized mentor in their home department/division after the faculty mentoring program conducts an evaluation of their mentoring needs. Other plans for the program include a campuswide mentoring retreat, regular program evaluations and awards for excellence in mentoring to recognize the importance of mentoring for UCSF faculty career development. More information about the mentoring program can be found on the Academic Affairs website. Links: Academic Affairs Launches Faculty-Focused Website UCSF Launches Faculty Leadership Collaborative