Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award

For professors with 20+ years at KU SOM.

The SOM Executive Dean's highest Mentoring Award, "The Jayhawk" is earned by professors on the faculty and is based on a lifetime of dedication or number of years mentoring junior faculty in the University of Kansas School of Medicine. This prestigious award acknowledges the time sacrifice and commitments through effort and advice by senior faculty professors to ensure our junior faculty achieve their full academic potential by developing skills and attaining advancement in the clinical, research and teaching areas. Recipients of this prestigious award earn membership in The University of Kansas School of Medicine Society of Distinguished Mentors.

Criteria

To submit a nomination you must be one of the candidate's current or previous Mentees, which as defined for the purpose of this award is either: a current junior faculty member (or assistant professor) in the KU SOM who is currently involved in a mentoring relationship with the candidate that has existed for a minimum of two years or more; or a past junior faculty member (now promoted beyond assistant professor) in the KU SOM who was involved in a mentoring relationship with the candidate for a minimum of two years or more while they were an assistant professor. Candidates may hold the award more than once but not within a five-year period.

To qualify as a candidate for the Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award - "The Jayhawk", the individual:

• must be a professor in the KUSOM
• have been a member of the KU SOM faculty for 20 years or more (nominees do not qualify for this award if serving as a member of the Dean's staff)
• has mentored a substantial number (three or more) of junior faculty over the years
• is a scholar with demonstrated success in the areas they mentor
• demonstrate superb performance in mentoring junior faculty
• have accessibility and commitment to "be there"
• show excellent guidance of individual research and/or creative project;
• possess willingness to assist junior faculty in pursuit of their stated goals, actively guiding development of teaching skills, research and pursuit of professional goals, clearly articulating expectations;
• must hold their mentee to high standards, encouraging and helping them establish their own records of scholarly activity or performance, evidence of supporting mentee's participation in events (e.g., meetings, conferences, committees, speaking engagements)
• demonstrate the ability to involve their mentees in “networking” activities with other professionals and faculty
• show evidence of mentees completing their defined projects (such at successful competition for grants, completion of publications, meeting promotional goals) in a timely manner
• show evidence of sustained commitment (two years or more) to a professional mentoring relationship that results in career growth or personal development of three or more mentees
• have demonstrated valued behavior, attitudes and/or skills that aid the mentees in achieving competence, confidence and a clear professional identity.

Nomination Packet Required

Write a letter nominating your candidate that provides but is not limited to:

• A testimonial of what your mentor has meant to you for their mentoring effort during the time you were an assistant professor
• Descriptions of specific behaviors and their significance
• Specific examples of mentoring interactions
• Descriptions of accomplishments that you directly credit to the influence of the nominated mentor
• A statement providing a simple explanation of your work as an assistant professor directly or indirectly influenced by the mentorship, dating from the mentorship relationship.
• Mentees are strongly encouraged to give specific examples of goals attained, projects completed, promotions, grants or awards earned, obstacles overcome and lessons learned in addition to anything else that they feel is attributable to the mentoring relationship.
• Please consider and address the List of Questions to Consider when writing a letter.
• Include in your nomination packet a copy of your CV (up-to-date within the last six months).
• Ask for additional support in the form of a letter for your candidate from their chair, director, professional colleague(s) and as many of the candidate's past or present mentees (individuals who were/are mentored while assistant professors).
• Ask each person to write a letter giving concrete examples of what this candidate’s mentoring time and effort has meant to the careers and career paths of junior faculty colleagues (who were assistant professors when they were mentored by the candidate), referring them to the List of Questions to Consider.
• Ask each current or former junior faculty mentee you want to provide support to also provide a electronic copy of their CV to allow the selection committee to further recognize the successful efforts of the candidate, (CV up-to-date within the last six months).

Additional instructions

• Support documents will not be accepted from individuals addressing their mentoring experiences with the candidate while they were a post-doc or resident. This award recognizes the effort of mentoring junior faculty members only.
• Ask the candidate to write a statement about his or her Mentoring Philosophy (maximum one page) and include it in your nomination packet.  Without this statement, the packet will be disqualified.
• Compile your nomination packet using the Nomination Packet Cover Sheet. The nomination packet (cover sheet, all letters letters and CVs) must be submitted in a single email to:
  
  Ms. Marty McLaughlin, Associate Director
  Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs, SOM
  Email address: mmclaughlin@kumc.edu
  Phone Number: 913-588-1381

Selection

Critical to the assessment of the nominees is the extent of mentoring and the apparent quality of mentoring judged by outcome measures assessed from:

• The achievements of those mentored including publications, awards and prizes, and the career paths during or since the conclusion of the mentorship
• Letters of support from additional current or former Mentees of the candidate
• Other statements of support (e.g. Department Chairs, Center Directors and Division Chiefs)
• The collegiality of the mentoring experience and the desirable characteristics of the mentoring environment (assessed from statements of support).

Nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Mentoring Awards Committee Members chaired by the Associate Dean for Professional Development and Faculty Affairs, and two finalists in each category will be recommended to the Executive Dean. The committee comprises various professional levels from an interdisciplinary arena along with past recipients of all the Mentoring Award categories. Final selection will be by the Executive Dean, School of Medicine, University of Kansas.

Award & Presentation

• $1,500 each award
• Trophy
• Membership in The University of Kansas School of Medicine Society of Distinguished Mentors.
• Presented by the Executive Dean at the Annual Faculty Retreat in October.