Faculty Development

Members of the Faculty Development Program (FDP) will be appointed by the Chair of Biostatistics and can include faculty at any rank. The Chair of the Department of Biostatistics Promotion and Tenure Committee will lead the Faculty Development Program and provide bi-monthly updates the department Chair on this program. A potential mentor-mentee relationship is valued by the chair and faculty members in the Department of Biostatistics.

Duties:

The FDP will assist faculty by any or all of the following ways:

• Matching junior faculty with a mentor and monitoring mentoring activities.
• Encouraging faculty to attend presentations or conferences on topics relevant to faculty development.
• Assist faculty in preparing for annual evaluations by the Chair of Biostatistics.
• Develop ways to evaluate faculty progress in teaching, academic service, and research/scholarship.

Faculty Development Program:

The overall goal of the Department of Biostatistics Faculty Development Program is to first develop healthy, successful individuals, guiding them on career paths which follow their dreams and utilize their strongest assets.

To that end, we strive to establish, develop, and facilitate positive, enduring, and mutually beneficial Mentoring relationships, which allow Mentees to plan, learn and grow, and which renew and reward mentors through the experience of encouraging, motivating, and inspiring others.

The Faculty Development Program was launched on September 1, 2008 and is explained below:

1. As soon as the offer letter from the Chair is accepted by the new faculty recruit, the individual will be asked by the chair to complete the Mentee Application Form. We encourage our newest members to visit the New Faculty Virtual Orientation before arriving on campus for work.
2. As members of the department develop and are able to serve as mentors, they will be asked by the chair to complete the Mentor Application Form.

NOTE: Forms will be submitted to the Chair of the Department of Biostatistics Promotion and Tenure Committee. The purpose of the Mentee and Mentor Application forms is to help assist with the match and help shape the relationship in the initial meeting between mentor and mentee.

3. The members of the FDP will review the information on the application forms and recommend a career mentor in the Department of Biostatistics with a mentee based as closely as possible on the needs of the mentee. If deemed applicable, mentor(s) from another department may also be recommended.
4. The appointed mentor will email an invitation to the mentee offering mentorship. The mentee will acknowledge or accept the invitation, confirming their participation in the program.
5. After 90 days of the initial meeting, mentee completes the 90-Day Trial Tool.
   1. The mentee and mentor will discuss the 90 day trial evaluation together understanding:
      1. that the career mentor is not the “end all” to their mentee;
      2. that the match is based on needs and is not a popularity contest; and
      3. it is to be expected that some mentor-mentee matches may need to be reassigned.
   2. At this point:
      1. the mentor-mentee pair may decide additional support mentors are needed to help meet the needs of the mentee; or
      2. a different relationship can be defined or the mentee can be re-matched; or
      3. this mentor-mentee relationship will continue.
   
   
6. Mentors and mentees are encouraged to follow the SOM’s Faculty Mentoring Handbook
7. Meetings will be scheduled by the mentee’s administrative assistant following the guidelines provided to them by the mentee. To begin, a frequency of at least once per month is highly recommended.
8. Mentees and mentors will determine together at the first meeting:
   1. the recordkeeping tools they wish to use as documents which will reflect the progress made over time, both the mentees growth as a junior member of the faculty and the mentors success in working with the junior member;
   2. the items, documents, tools or forms each need to bring to meetings;
   3. the frequency the mentee should bring their updated P&T formatted CV to these meetings. At minimum, the CV should be updated every 3 months.

Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs (PDFA), School of Medicine

Promotion & Tenure (Contact Jo Halverson, the Director of the Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs for the most updated information)

Mentoring Bibliography

For questions contact:

Byron Gajewski, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics
Chair, Department of Biostatistics Promotion and Tenure Committee
Email Address:bgajewski@kumc.edu
Main Phone Number: (913)588-1603

Robert Klein, PhD
Chair of the Mentoring Initiative for the School of Medicine
Associate Dean for the Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs -- Kansas City
Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology
Email Address:rklein@kumc.edu
Main Phone Number: (913)588-1381