Faculty Mentor of the Year Award

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Medical Faculty Senate Council

The Medical Faculty Senate Council (MFSC) will award the Faculty Mentor of the Year in 2008.
An outstanding mentor from the University faculty will be chosen and honored.

This award recognizes faculty development through partnering by rewarding a medical scholar who exemplifies a deep commitment to fostering the professional growth of junior, less experienced faculty. To encourage all departments and divisions to actively support and promote mentoring, the MFSC recognizes and elevates the importance of mentorship to the Northwestern academic community. The MFSC believes that mentoring is critical to the growth of faculty vitality and is the foundation for development of the next generation of leading medical educators: our heroes, our master teachers, and our role models. Strong mentors strive for excellence in all their activities, and give selflessly to their students, their colleagues, and their patients … still finding time for our junior faculty.

The MFSC’s distinguished Faculty Mentor of the Year Award is designed to allow faculty to honor their faculty mentors who embody both the letter and spirit of mentoring.  Only a Mentee may nominate a candidate, even if today the Mentee is no longer a junior faculty member due to the passage of time.  

The prestigious award acknowledges the consistent time sacrifice and commitment through effort and advice by faculty (professors, associate professors, and assistant professors with a minimum of 5 years at FSM) to ensure our junior faculty (instructors, assistant or associate professors at FSM) achieve their full academic potential by developing academic skills and attaining academic advancement in the clinical, research and teaching areas.

• A Mentee must submit the nomination for their candidate. Members of the MFSC may not nominate a candidate.
• Nominee or candidate must be a member of FSM in order to qualify for the award.
• Nominees should be scholars with demonstrated success in the areas 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 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;
  • Demonstrated valued behavior, attitudes, and/or skills that aid the mentee(s) in achieving competence, confidence, and a clear professional identity.
• Nomination Materials required (by 5:00 p.m. June 5, 2008)

The Mentee, in preparing the nomination submission, must:

Complete the MENTEE'S ONLINE MENTORING NOMINATION FORM (Word) no later than June 5, 2008. The form includes questions regarding, but not limited to:

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.

Solicit any amount of support for the mentor from other faculty such as the nominee's deans, chair, director, colleague(s) and/or additional Mentees (past or present) through letters of support which must be submitted by June 5, 2008.

• Nominations will be reviewed by the MFSC Advisory Panel.
• The winner will be announced by the President of MFSC at a FSM event.

• $1,000 (per award)
• Plaque
• Formally presented on campus by MFSC. Time and Location TBA.

The on-line nomination and letters of support must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m., June 5, 2008 to

Cathleen Tracy, Program Coordinator
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
680 N Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1102
Chicago, IL 60611
Email address: ctracy@northwestern.edu   Phone Number: (312) 908-1723

Excerpted with permission from University of Kansas School of Medicine