Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern University

Northwestern supports the cultivation of an inclusive community of individuals who are dedicated to excellence in mentoring, who model diverse and inclusive mentoring practices, and who help others become effective mentors and mentees at Northwestern University.

Developing and implementing effective mentoring practices is necessary in order to build a supportive, equitable and inclusive community; to attract, retain and develop talented scholars; and to contribute to an institutional culture that prioritizes well-being and scholarly growth.

At Northwestern, faculty mentorship work should be guided by four core Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice:  intentional, inclusive, relational and holistic. These principles were developed by the Provost’s Office Mentoring Council, composed of faculty from across the schools. The principles, best practices and list of resources are designed to assist all faculty serving in formal or informal roles as mentors and mentees.

Read more about the four Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice: intentional, inclusive, relational and holistic.

Find resources on mentoring, well-being, and diversity, equity and inclusion education.

Mentoring Relationships and Programs

Faculty mentoring takes place in multiple forms, including one-on-one relationships between individuals and group-based mentoring, and includes the mentoring of faculty colleagues, postdoctoral trainees and students. Many departments and schools offer formal mentoring programs for early career faculty. The Office of the Provost offers small group mentoring for department chairs and early career faculty through the Provost's Small Group Faculty Mentoring Program, designed by a faculty committee chaired by Kenzie Cameron, Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine.

Advancing Mentoring Practices Training at Northwestern

Northwestern encourages faculty to advance their mentoring practices through mentoring training sessions available at the university. Faculty and staff collaborated to ensure that both of the following series are aligned with the four Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice and evidence-based best practices for mentoring.

Collaborators include Kenzie Cameron, PhD, MPH, FACH, Senior Director of NUCATS Mentoring and Leadership Development, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS); Adam Goodman, PhD, Director, Center for Leadership; Joan Marie Johnson, PhD, Senior Director for Faculty, Office of the Provost; Rick McGee, PhD, Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Professional Development, Feinberg School of Medicine; and Liz Stein, PhD, Director of Graduate and Postdoctoral Training and Development, The Graduate School.

These programs are designed for faculty to complete one series or the other, and to attend additional mentoring training sessions every few years on advanced/additional topics.

Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern Faculty Mentoring Training Program

The Office of the Provost, The Graduate School, and the Center for Leadership offer the Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern series of workshops. Based on the Provost’s Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice and nationally recognized best practices for the mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral trainees, the training includes small group work, case studies, short lecture-style learning, and guidance to help faculty be intentional and confident in their mentoring abilities. Each session has case studies available for both lab-based STEM faculty and non-lab-based faculty across all disciplines.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that faculty appointed to T32 and other training grants participate in faculty mentoring training. Completion of all five evidence-based modules in the Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern series within two years constitutes successful completion of the faculty mentoring training for NIH T32 grants. The five required sessions cover the seven NIH recommended topics.

This series is open to all Northwestern faculty, including those not appointed to training grants. Northwestern strongly recommends that all faculty complete the series of workshops.

Sessions of Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern will be offered in 2024-2025 either in-person in both Evanston and Chicago or virtually. Faculty who complete all five sessions within two years will receive a Mentoring Excellence Certificate. Additional modules with advanced learning and additional topics will be added to the program in future years.

table contains names and dates of events
	2024-2025 Sessions	Modality/Location
Session I	Aligning Expectations and Effective Communication  Defining mentoring and Northwestern’s Principles of Mentoring Excellence  How to establish a common understanding of and clearly communicate between you and your mentee the boundaries, terms, structure, and goals of the mentoring relationships  Constructing Your Mentoring Plan Worksheet Session #1 Training Packet	Oct. 11, 2024, 12-1:30pm, Prentice Conf Room L (North), Prentice Women’s Hospital, Chicago Oct. 18, 2024, 12-1:30pm, Norris Student Center, Evanston
Session II	Fostering Independence and Promoting Professional Development  Identify the role(s) mentors play in the overall development of their mentees.  Encourage mentees to establish a mentoring network to foster independence.	Virtual: Nov. 15, 2024, noon-1:30pm
Session III	Assessing Understanding and Cultivating Ethical Behavior  Establish a framework for creating psychological safety and why it matters in assessing understanding  Identify approaches to assess mentees' understanding and design strategies for identifying a reason for a lack of understanding and how to enhance mentee understanding.  Clarify roles as teacher and role model in educating mentees about ethics, manage the power dynamic inherent in the mentoring relationship, and articulate ethical issues that need to be discussed with mentees.	Virtual: Dec. 6, 2024, noon-1:30pm
Session IV	Equity and Inclusion   Best practices for creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding by promoting dialogue built on principles of empathy  NASEM findings on cross-cultural mentoring and best practices	Jan. 10, noon-1:30 p.m., Chicago (location TBA) Jan. 24, noon-1:30 p.m., Evanston (location TBA)
Session V	Defining and Articulating Your Mentoring Philosophy and Plan  Construct a mentoring plan to enhance mentee understanding and growth.   Apply Northwestern’s Principles of Mentoring Excellence to your own mentoring plan  Prerequisite: Completion of sessions I-IV required prior to session V	Feb. 21, 2025, noon-1:30pm, Evanston (location TBA)  Feb. 28, 2025, noon-1:30pm, Chicago (location TBA)

Please note, faculty who participated in training in 2023-2024 but have not completed the full sequence yet can contact faculty@northwestern.edu for guidance.

Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) Developing and Enhancing Mentoring Relationships Workshop Series

This monthly series at Feinberg School of Medicine consists of 90-minute in-person workshops designed to prepare mentors and mentees to be effective and successful in their roles. Via presentation of evidence-based best practices, these sessions use an open discussion format, breakout groups, and hypothetical case scenarios as the impetus for participants to reflect on their own experiences in mentoring — as a mentee and/or as a mentor. Workshops are aligned with and guided by Northwestern’s Foundational Principles of Effective Faculty Mentoring (Intentional, Inclusive, Relational, Holistic).

This program is open to all faculty across all ranks and tracks who hold appointments in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Faculty in other colleges may participate if they are engaged in biomedical research.  In-person attendance will be capped at 40 participants.

Faculty may also seek to complete the Mentor Training Certificate Program (MTCP). To earn a Certificate, faculty must participate in three required workshop sessions ("Establishing and Aligning Expectations in Mentoring Relationships," "Cultural Awareness to Enhance Mentoring Across Differences," and "Articulating Your Mentoring Philosophy and Plan") as well as three additional elective workshop sessions.

Earning a Certificate through completion of the NUCATS Mentor Training Certificate Program fulfills NIH requirements for faculty mentors on T32 and other training grants.

Faculty have three years in which to complete the MTCP. Required sessions are offered annually; topics for the elective workshops (five offered per year) vary, and cover content associated with: effective communication/managing difficult conversations; fostering independence, enhancing professional development, among other topics.

More information is available on the website.