School of Medicine Executive Dean's Distinguished Mentoring Awards

History

The Executive Dean in The School of Medicine, University of Kansas formally launched the SOM Executive Dean's distinguished mentoring awards in the summer of 2006 honoring outstanding mentors chosen annually as a part of the Mentoring Program. Participation in mentoring is evaluated in the Annual Faculty Assessment and is a criterion in review by Departmental and SOM Promotion and Tenure Committees, particularly for promotion to Professor.

The three Distinguished Mentoring Awards recognize a responsibility to faculty development through partnering and rewarding scholars who exemplify a deep commitment to fostering the professional growth of junior faculty with less experience. Eligible persons are those members of our faculty who have demonstrated a commitment to mentoring and who strive for excellence in all their activities, give selflessly to their students, their colleagues, and their patients ... still finding time to "give a leg up" to their junior faculty colleagues. The faculty of the School of Medicine believes that mentoring is critical to faculty vitality and mentoring helps form a foundation for development of the next generation of medical educators: our heroes in the profession, our master teachers, and role models.

Honorees receive:

• The honor of being one of our Distinguished Mentors
• Recognition at the Annual Faculty RetreatGift of a trophy signifying the honoree as a Distinguished MentorRecognition on the Distinguished Mentor Wall in the School of Medicine
• A $1,500 financial award to be used at the discretion of the Honoree

Two Mentoring Awards Honor Senior Faculty Members in the School of Medicine

The SOM Executive Dean's two distinguished and separate Mentoring Awards earned by senior members of the faculty are based on years of experience and are designed to allow faculty to honor their faculty Mentors who embody both the letter and spirit of mentoring.  These two prestigious awards acknowledge the time sacrifice and commitments through effort and advice by mid-career and senior faculty to ensure our junior faculty achieve their full academic potential by developing academic skills and attaining academic advancement in the clinical, research and teaching areas.

Two (2) awards to be presented:

• Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award -- "The Jayhawk"
  (For professors with 20+ years at KU SOM)
• Excellence in Mentoring Award
  (For professors or associate professors with a minimum of 5 years at KU SOM)

One Mentoring Award Honors Professionals from Outside the School of Medicine Faculty Membership

A third mentoring award category honors Mentors who are not members of the KU School of Medicine faculty, but are professionals who work in either private practice; are faculty members from other medical, nursing or allied health schools or institutions; or are professionals from the world of business.  Like the other two awards, this category acknowledges the consistent time sacrifice and commitments through effort and advice in the spirit of mentoring to ensure our faculty members achieve their full academic potential by developing skills and attaining academic advancement in the clinical, research and teaching areas.

The award to be presented when appropriate:

• Honorary Mentoring Award
  (For professors, associate professors or non-academic professionals who are not members of the KU SOM faculty)

Criteria - for Mentoring Awards Honoring SENIOR KU SOM Faculty Members

• Nominee or candidate must be a member of KU SOM in order to qualify for either of the two separate awards:

• A professor with 20 years or more at KU SOM is qualified for the Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award -- "The Jayhawk"
• A professor or an associate professor with a minimum of 5  years at KU SOM is qualified for the Excellence in Mentoring Award

 

• Nominations must come from Mentees  (A Mentee, as defined for the purpose of this award, is a current or past member of the faculty who has been mentored for a minimum of 2 years or more by the candidate.)
• Nominees do not qualify for this award if serving as a member of the Dean's staff.
• Nominee has mentored a substantial number (3 or more) of junior faculty over the years.
• Nominees should be scholars with demonstrated success in the areas they mentor.
• Superb performance in mentoring junior faculty:
  
  
• Accessibility and commitment to "be there";
• Excellent guidance of individual research and/or creative projects;
• 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;
• Holding 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);
• Ability to involve their mentees in “networking” activities with other professionals and faculty; and finally
• Evidence of mentees completing their defined projects (such at successful competition for grants, completion of publications, meeting promotional goals) in a timely manner.

 

• The award will be based on the following criteria:

• A demonstrated commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth of their mentees so they may function effectively and with measurable success in the organization.
• Evidence of sustained commitment (two years or more) to a professional mentoring relationship that results in career growth or personal development of 3 or more mentees.
• Demonstrated valued behavior, attitudes, and/or skills that aid the mentees in achieving competence, confidence, and a clear professional identity.

 

• Candidates may hold the award more than once, but not within a 5 year period.

Criteria – for Mentoring Award which Honors NON-KU SoM Professionals

• To be a qualified nominee for the the Honorary Mentoring Award the candidate must:
  
  
  • be a professor, an associate professor or a non-academic professional from outside the KUSOM faculty membership,
  • has served a minimum of two years as a Mentor to a junior member of our faculty.
  • has mentored one or more junior members of the KUSOM faculty
    
    
• Nominations must come from School of Medicine faculty Mentees  (A Mentee, as defined for the purpose of this award, is as a current or past member of the faculty who has been mentored for a minimum of 2 years or more by the candidate.)
• Nominees should be scholars or professionals with demonstrated success in the field or skills which they mentor.
• Superb performance in mentoring junior faculty in their chosen profession goals:
  
  
• Accessibility and commitment to "be there".
• Excellent guidance of individual research and/or creative projects;
• 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, and;
• Holding 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);
• Ability to involve their mentees in “networking” activities with other professionals and faculty; and finally
• Evidence of mentees completing their defined projects (such at completion of grants, publications, meeting promotional goals) on time.


• The award will be based on the following criteria:

• A demonstrated commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth of their mentees so they may function effectively and with measurable success in the organization;
• Evidence of sustained commitment (2 years or more) to a professional mentoring relationship that results in career growth or personal development of mentees;
• Demonstrated valued behavior, attitudes, and/or skills that aid the mentees in achieving competence, confidence, and a clear professional identity.
  
  
• Candidates may earn the award more than once, but not within a 5 year period.

Nomination Packet Required

~ DEADLINE is 5:00 p.m. August 7th, 2009~

The Mentee (who prepares the nomination packet for submission), must do the following:

1. Complete and include a copy of the 2009 MENTORING AWARD NOMINATION FORM (Word). The form was created as a tool to compare and evaluate candidates equally using criteria based upon guidelines for mentoring encouraged in our Junior Faculty Mentoring Program.  The form includes questions regarding, but not limited to:
   • A testimonial of what your mentor has meant to you;
   • Descriptions of specific behaviors and their significance;
   • Specific examples of mentoring interactions, and
   • Descriptions of accomplishments that you directly credit to the influence of the nominated mentor;
   • A statement providing a simple explanation of your work directly or indirectly influenced by the mentorship, dating from the mentorship relationship.
   • Mentee's are strongly encouraged to give specific examples of goals attained, projects completed, promotions, grants or awards earned, obstacles overcome, lessons learned in addition to anything else that they feel is attributable to the mentoring relationship
2. Seek additional support for your candidate from their deans, chair, director, professional colleague(s) and/or as many of the candidate's past or present faculty mentees. Ask each person to complete a copy of the 2009 MENTORING AWARD SUPPORT FORM (Word) available on-line. Instruct them to follow the directions on the support form. Include in the nomination packet copies of all support forms and letters.
3. Include in the packet a copy of their own CV and their candidate's CV (up-to-date within the last 6 months).
4. Ask their candidate to write his or her statement of mentoring philosophy (maximum one page) and include it in the packet.
5. Compile the packet using the Nomination Packet Cover Sheet (Word).

All award recipients will be encouraged, but not required to complete a one-page questionnaire for the Virtual Mentor webpage.

Selection

• Critical to the assessment of the nominees:
• Extent of mentoring
• Apparent quality of mentoring judged by outcome measures assessed from:
• The achievements of those mentored including publications, awards and prizes, and most importantly 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 by the School of Medicine Professional Development and Faculty Affairs Advisory Panel chaired by the Associate Dean for Professional Development and Faculty Affairs. This panel comprises various professional levels from an interdisciplinary arena.
• 2 finalists for each award:
  • Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award -- "The Jayhawk"
  • Excellence in Mentoring Award
  • Honorary Mentoring Award

will be selected by the committee and recommended to the Executive Dean

• Final selection will be by the Executive Dean, School of Medicine, University of Kansas. Winners and finalists will be announced by the Executive Dean at the Annual Fall Faculty Retreat each year.

Award & Presentation

• $1,500 each award
• Trophy
• Presented by the Executive Dean at the Annual Faculty Retreat September 18, 2009.

The on-line nomination and support forms must be submitted via email, and hardcopy CVs must be delivered by hand, via campus mail or U.S. mail no later than 5:00 p.m., August 7th, 2009 to:

Ms. Marty Gunion, Associate Director
Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs, SOM
Email address: mgunion@kumc.edu
Phone Number: (913) 588-1381