Mentoring Awards

To celebrate the importance of faculty serving as mentors for more junior colleagues, the Dean presents awards for mentoring at the SMD Convocation annually.

The call for nominations will go out each year in the fall.

Mentoring can be a powerful force in the personal and professional development of an individual. It benefits not only the mentee, but also the mentor and the University. To recognize mentoring as a valuable contribution to the University of Rochester, we will honor individuals who excel in this important endeavor. There are three awards, one for mentoring junior faculty, one for mentoring pre-doctoral trainees and post-doctoral trainees/fellows in basic science research, and one for mentoring residents, fellows, or other clinical trainees in clinical care or clinical research.

Fall, 2024, Call for Nominations

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Nominations for 2025 Academic Mentoring Awards

Please submit nominations by October 1, 2024.

Mentoring can be a powerful force in the personal and professional development of an individual. It benefits not only the mentee, but also the mentor and the University. To recognize mentoring as a valuable contribution to the University of Rochester, we will honor individuals who excel in this important endeavor. There are three awards, one for mentoring junior faculty, one for mentoring pre-doctoral trainees and post-doctoral trainees/fellows in basic science research, and one for mentoring residents, fellows, or other clinical trainees in clinical care or clinical research. These awards will be presented at the Faculty Awards Celebration.

Characteristics of the Ideal Mentor

(recognizing that no one person may have all of these skills)

Critical traits of the mentor:

• Accepts responsibility for being a mentor
• Gives time and is approachable
• Respected, well-established, secure; not threatened by success of a junior person
• Altruistic; able to invest in the success of another’s career
• Objective and insightful; can evaluate new ideas free of bias
• Capable of empathy and caring; respectful of diversity and differences among people; able to appreciate mentee despite possible differences

Role of the mentor:

• Role model
• Teacher
• Support and challenge the person being mentored, balancing the two to promote personal and professional development
• Counselor and advisor
• Sponsor, advocate, and ally, including facilitating and helping establish additional skills, collaborators, mentors, and role models, as needed
• Motivates excellence

Knowledge and skills of the mentor:

• Understands the science of hypothesis development and testing and how to guide a mentee to what is important scientifically
• Able to listen, critique, and communicate effectively and constructively
• Knowledgeable about different career tracks, stages of a faculty career, markers of development and progress, criteria, and systems for promotion, informal and formal expectations of faculty development
• Knowledgeable about scientific writing, grant writing, choice of grants, choosing journals in which to publish, time management, human resource management/supervision, team management, budgeting, etc.
• Knowledgeable about balancing multiple professional demands, including service to the Division/Department/School/University

Nature of the relationship between mentor and mentee:

• Regard for the individual, recognizing the multiple personal and professional roles he or she may be balancing against professional goals
• Fair, honest, respectful, and ethical relationship
• Proactive, with explicit goals, agendas, and timelines

Eligibility and Submissions of Nominations:

There will be THREE AWARDS, presented to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry faculty members:

• Faculty Academic Mentoring Award – for a faculty member who has mentored one or more junior faculty (Assistant Professor or Senior Instructor).
• Trainee Academic Mentoring Award in Basic Science – for a faculty member who has mentored pre-doctoral trainees and post-doctoral trainees/fellows in basic science research.
• Trainee Academic Mentoring Award in Clinical Programs – for a faculty member who has mentored residents, fellows, or other clinical trainees in clinical care or clinical research.

The nomination process involves 2 sequential steps:

1. Initial nominations will consist of:
   1. A letter of recommendation from the Chair or Unit Director (the letter should summarize the extent and impact of the nominee’s accomplishments as a mentor).
   2. The nominee’s Curriculum Vitae.

Please do not include additional materials; they will not be considered at this stage of the process.

2. The Mentoring Awards Committee will review nominations and select candidates they would like to receive additional information for, in each category. At that time, we will request the Chair of Unit Director provide additional letters of recommendation.

Please combine the application materials into a single pdf with searchable text (i.e., convert Word to pdf rather than scanning hard copies) and deliver by email no later than 6 p.m. October 1, 2024 to:  britney_swanger@urmc.rochester.edu

In the subject line of the email, please include the nominee’s name and which award the nomination is for.

Questions regarding the nomination process may be directed to the Office of Academic Affairs at (585) 275-3030 or via email at britney_swanger@urmc.rochester.edu

Recipients of Mentoring Awards 2000 - Present

Mentoring Awards List

JAMA Paper on Mentoring

JAMA Mentoring article