The Department of Pediatrics (DOP) has provided a formal, time and event-driven, highly successful Faculty Mentoring Program (FMP) in place for over 25 years.
The FMP is focused on mentoring assistant professors to successfully navigate their careers and achieve promotion and/or tenure in a timely manner. Junior faculty in both the tenure and non-tenure pathways are mentored equally. Participation in the FMP is voluntary for mentors but expected for junior faculty.
Within three to six months of appointment, a MC is formed by the Director of the FMP (Dr. Joan Cranmer) in conjunction with the Mentee and Section Chief. Most MC members are DOP faculty members but other UAMS faculty members with appropriate skills and experience may be asked by Dr. Cranmer to serve on specific mentoring committees. One of the MC members serves as Chair of the MC.
The DOP is large (>280) and 90 active mentoring committees are functioning at any given time! Committees meet twice annually to evaluate progress, set goals, and support the mentee. The Chair of the MC produces minutes according to a specific template designed to evaluate progress compared to Promotion and Tenure criteria, identify obstacles, and set goals for the next 6 months.
MC minutes are circulated in a feedback loop from the Chair of the MC to the Vice-Chair for Faculty Affairs (Dr. Renee Bornemeier) and the Director of the FMP (Dr. Joan Cranmer). Minutes are sent to the Section Chief for agreement or comment. If there is an “issue” it is addressed. At the appropriate time in the Mentee’s career, the MC recommends the Mentee is ready for promotion review.
Our mentoring program was published in Pediatrics in 2018:
Cranmer JM, Scurlock AM, Hale RB, Ward WL, Prodhan P, Weber JL, Casey PH, Jacobs RF. An Adaptable Pediatrics Faculty Mentoring Model. Pediatrics. 2018 05; 141(5). PMID: 29669752.
Contact the Office of Faculty Mentoring, Promotion and Tenure
Joan Cranmer, Ph.D. – Professor and Director, Faculty Mentoring Program cranmerjoanm@uams.edu or (501) 364-2987