Guidelines & Roles

All mentees are encouraged to make the most of the DPMP. This should not be a burden but rather a process to support a successful career in academia whether it is in a research or clinical/educator role as faculty. The mentee is required to select a primary mentor(s), develop a Goal Plan and have regular ongoing meetings with the DPMP Committee at least annually.  At one annual meeting the mentee will be required to prepare a 10-15-minute presentation on their work and progress toward their goals. This will be followed by a discussion with the DPMP committee and mentor and the opportunity for a private meeting with the DPMP Committee. In preparation for this annual meeting, mentees will send the Goal Plan and CV to the DPMP Committee administrative staff.

Below are tips for the mentee to ensure the mentorship experience is optimal:

• Show initiative in career planning. Develop a personal statement and exchange the CV with the mentor for discussion;
• Find out about, and take advantage of, opportunities for learning about how UMSOM and the department operate. Write down questions as they occur and then begin searching out the answers;
• Realize that success is important not just to the mentee, but also to the department and UMSOM. Consider that “going it alone” often does not work well for anyone;
• Make scheduled meetings (at least quarterly) with mentor(s) a priority and take advantage of email and phone regularly to stay in touch;
• Be willing to ask for help;
• Let the DPMP Committee know if there are questions or concerns about the DPMP or the mentor(s). The mentee will have the opportunity to meet confidentially with the DPMP committee chairperson, or one of the committee members if meeting with the chair might cause a conflict;
• Maintain contacts with other participants in the Faculty Mentoring Program;
• Become familiar with the resources available to support and strengthen teaching, writing and research;
• Keep in mind that successful relationships most likely occur with mutual interests and benefits. Work to collaborate and include the mentor in ideas, clinical issues, case reports, grant writing, grant funding, paper coauthorship, and other shared interests;
• Communicate with the program or Division Director regarding career development goals so that they can provide feedback and support and ensure they sign the Goal Plan;
• Consider what makes you feel valued in your different roles, in your Division, and in the Department. Discuss this with your mentors, your Division Director, and with the DPMP. If you are not feeling valued, communicate this so that you, your mentors, and your Division Director can help develop solutions.
• Discuss opportunities for career advancement. Start these conversations early in the mentoring process and have this on the agenda at all meetings so that you can work toward advancement and get input into how to successfully advance on your preferred timeline.

Mentors provide an invaluable service to faculty members in the Department of Psychiatry.

Ideally the selection of mentors should be voluntary and in response to a mentee request, but the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the DPMP can recommend and ask faculty to serve as mentors. A mentor does not have to be someone in a leadership role and mentors would ideally be considered as Associate or full Professors. Assistant Professors who are accomplished in a specific area may serve as a mentor, but only with discussion and input from the DPMP Committee.

All faculty should work to develop a “climate of mentoring” in which all spontaneously and informally aim to mentor their new colleagues. All faculty should recognize the importance of this program for the success and advancement of new and younger faculty. All faculty should take care to ensure that new and young faculty are integrally involved in departmental/program events such as colloquia, seminars, and committees.  Faculty should also strive to serve as models and create opportunities for informal “hallway” mentoring on an ongoing basis even if they do not serve formally as a mentor. This should include demonstrating an interest in the activities and progress of the new faculty member, trying to relate these activities to their own interests, and making invitations for collaboration. In addition, all faculty at the Associate Professor level and above are encouraged to mentor faculty members participating in the DPMP.

The future success of the mentee may be a direct result of the early dedication by the mentor. Mentors are busy and mentorship does take a commitment so they must have adequate time to invest in the mentee. A DPMP Committee has been established to help ensure that all responsibility does not land on the mentor. The DPMP Committee will ensure that all mentees begin with the appropriate information and knowledge and the Committee will provide discussion and recommendations (i.e., onboarding). The mentor may have but is not required to have a similar field of clinical or scientific interest as the mentee.. Mentors will most likely be from the Department of Psychiatry, but this is not required. The goal is to be matched with the best mentor for the relationship to succeed with both parties having a mutual interest in the success of the mentee.  Where appropriate, but not always, formal collaborations between the mentor and mentee may result in co-authorship of papers and grants. 

Mentorship counts as academic credit but more importantly will help shape the future of new and junior faculty. Mentors should take time to set up meetings and help mentees develop a Goal Plan and help ensure the Division/Department director agrees with the goals. Mentors are expected to be present annually at their mentees’ DPMP Committee presentations. The following are tips for success in developing this relationship: 

• Exchange CVs with each other to stimulate discussion about career paths and possibilities;
• Ask about and encourage accomplishments. Provide constructive criticism and impromptu feedback;
• Use knowledge and experience to help the faculty member identify and build upon their strengths;
• Attend mentoring workshops if possible;
• Within the first three months, a career Goal Plan should be developed for the mentee. Please keep in mind this will be different for all faculty. Some participating faculty are on the Clinician/Educator track and some on the Research Track. Mentors should help develop a Goal Plan that takes this into consideration and ensure they are familiar with all the APT paths for promotion in order to discuss this;
• Meet with mentee at least quarterly. However, monthly dialogue should occur.
• Discuss annual performance reviews with the mentee: how to prepare, what to expect, how to deal with different outcomes. Preview the annual performance summary before it is submitted to the DPMP Committee;
• Aid the mentee in exploring the institutional, school, departmental culture (e.g., what is valued? What is rewarded?);
• Check in with the Chairs of the DPMP Committee with any concerns or problems. Respond to the occasional call from the DPMP Chair or Committee member to see how each pair is doing;
• Share knowledge of important UMSOM and professional events that should be attended by the mentee;
• Actively and regularly discuss opportunities that would be good for a mentee’s career development and help mentees link with opportunities if the mentee is having trouble with this;
• If attending meetings or conferences together, take some time to introduce the faculty member to colleagues and encourage networking opportunities.

1) To oversee the process of mentoring, a DPMP Committee will be appointed consisting of at least six members with at least two members from basic sciences, two members from clinical research and two clinician/educator members. The DPMP Committee may invite a representative from the Career Development Office and/or the Institute from Clinical and Translational Research to provide information on SOM research infrastructure and training opportunities at some of the meetings. The entire committee will not be required to meet and review all mentees at the annual meeting, but at least two members should be present for each mentee committee meeting.

2) The DPMP will be provided designated administrative personnel to assist with a successful program. They will:

• Help organize and facilitate the mentor-mentee match and initiate contact information;
• Assist the mentee and mentor by providing the initial Goal Plan template and assist with questions for developing;
• Ensure the mentee has been properly onboarded and knows all basic information and participates in an initial boot camp. This will include but not be limited to providing information on how to develop a CV and the full policies and procedures of the Appointment, Promotions and Tenure (APT) guidelines, introduction to relevant School of Medicine staff and faculty running faculty development seminars, and ensuring all faculty know of other relevant resources;
• Set up annual DPMP Committee meetings, send reminders, and provide DPMP Committee members with the annual Goal Plan and mentee CV in advance of the meeting;
• Take minutes at the DPMP meetings and distribute;
• Coordinate the slides in advance of the meeting (if relevant) and assist with any AV or IT needs for presentation;
• Maintain a file for each mentee with the annual Goal Plan, CV, and minutes;
• Assist with all correspondence and keep an updated list of all mentees and mentors in the department.

3) The Chair of the Department of Psychiatry will advertise the DPMP Committee and provide information regularly to Division Directors so that each faculty should be aware of this resource.

4) The DPMP Committee as a whole, Chair, or representative will be responsible for the following:

• Reach out and welcome the faculty;
• Ensure they are connected to the administrative staff and receive all onboarding information;
• Assist with a mentor(s)/mentee match (form below if needed);
• Commit to be present for the annual the annual DPMP Committee meeting to review the progress of mentees;
• Engage at the meetings and give advice to the mentees;
• Review minutes of the meetings and provide feedback;
• Agree to meet with mentees if needed.

5) The DPMP Committee strives to ensure that faculty are paired in mentoring relationships that are beneficial and successful for the faculty members. Therefore, it is suggested and encouraged that the mentors and mentees solicit the committee for advice or suggestions if they foresee any problems or have concerns. These will be handled in an appropriate manner by the Committee. The committee will recognize that in rare instances the mentor-mentee relationship may not be ideally suited to position the mentee to succeed. In these cases, a new selection is encouraged, and the Committee will help facilitate this process.

6) Reach out periodically to mentees and mentors for encouragement and advice to improve the program.

7) The DPMP Committee will assign a committee point person to each mentee. This will allow the mentee to have a designated person to contact with any concerns, rather than having to contact the entire committee.

8) Any members of the DPMP Committee who serve as a primary mentor will recuse themselves following the presentation for any private conversations.

Division Directors are part of the mentoring team. They should:

1) Regularly check in with mentees to see how the mentoring process is going;

2) Help problem solve any challenges in the mentoring process;

3) Enhance overall mentoring by providing opportunities for professional and career development;

4) Conduct a thorough annual evaluation with the mentee that includes discussion of whether the mentee is feeling valued and supported, what’s going well in the mentee’s professional life, and what does the mentee think needs to be improved;

5) Pay special attention to the mentee’s activities and goals in the first 2/5 years; actively and regularly discuss these and help problem solve any obstacles to success in these areas.