Along with helping overall academic achievement, mentoring programs can:
- Increase retention rates of new faculty
- Enhance their personal satisfaction of their career choice
- Improve faculty morale
- Assist in leadership development of junior faculty
- Reduce stress and prevent burnout
As such, mentoring programs add value to the university and its learning culture, and reduce the costs of faculty replacement. High faculty satisfaction will assist in recruiting students and postdoctoral fellows, in the obtaining of new grants, and in recognition of UNMC through publications and the provision of high-quality, safe-patient care.
Tips for establishing a successful departmental or college mentoring program
Adequate infrastructure within each area is key to support mentoring activities, and leadership should be role models on mentoring and encourage mentor and mentee participation.
The rewards from mentoring should be visible through:
- The promotion and tenure process
- The selection of best mentors
- Annual performance evaluations
- Awarding of sufficient time to mentors for their meetings with their mentees
- Recognition for mentors and mentees
There are a plethora of benefits to having a mentor. For example, mentors can provide advice on:
- Promotion and tenure preparation
- Ways to ensure patient satisfaction with clinical encounters
- Solutions to prevent faculty burnout or loss of enthusiasm for an academic career
- Learn the culture of your organization
- Solve academic and personal issues
- Scholarship and grant writing
- Develop confidence in teaching, research, or patient care
- Expand your horizons of what’s available at UNMC and within your career
Learn more about being a successful mentee.
Mentoring can be a rewarding experience for everyone involved. As a mentor, you'll gain:
- Professional and personal satisfaction
- Experience needed when going up for promotion and tenure
- A new relationship with a trusted colleague
- New knowledge or research opportunities
- The ability to shape and grow your department
- A sense of purpose through the training of the next generation of academic leadership
Learn more about being a successful mentor.
