Mentoring Resources

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences describes mentoring as "a relationship between a more experienced person, the mentor, and a less experienced person, the mentee or trainee, within which important career skills are transferred from one to the other. The mentoring relationship is an agreement between two people that the mentor will take a long-term interest in the career development and aspirations of the mentee. This is a serious responsibility for the mentor, who must accept that he or she has taken on an important, perhaps life-long, role in another's career." The resources below are available to support and enhance the mentor-mentee relationship.

Northwestern University encourages faculty to advance their mentoring practices through mentoring training sessions available at the university. The Office of the Provost, NUCATS (Northwestern University Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute), The Center for Leadership and TGS support the development of mentoring excellence through faculty mentor training programs and supplemental workshops to establish best mentoring practices and maintain a community that strives to develop and implement effective mentoring practices.

Office of the Provost Mentoring Resources
- Office of the Provost Foundational Principles of Mentoring: The Office of the Provost has developed four foundational principles of mentoring for Northwestern faculty. Each principle includes examples of best practices that can be used to develop and support mentoring activities. See the Four Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice.
- “Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern” is a mentoring training program developed and offered jointly by the Office of the Provost, The Graduate School, and the Center for Leadership. This program is based on the Office of the Provost’s Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice and nationally recognized best practices for the mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. It 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.
- Completion of all five evidence-based modules in the Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern series within two years will earn a Mentoring Excellence Certificate and fulfill Northwestern NIH training grant requirements.
- Sessions will be both virtual and in-person at the Chicago and Evanston campuses.
- Please note, faculty who participated in this training in previous years but have not completed the full sequence yet can contact faculty@northwestern.edu for guidance.
  - Details and Registration Here

NUCATS (Northwestern University Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute)
- NUCATS hosts “Developing & Enhancing Mentoring Relationships” monthly workshops designed to prepare mentors and mentees to be effective and successful in their roles. Workshops are aligned with and guided by Office of the Provost’s  Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice. Workshops include presentation of evidence-based best practices, open discussions, breakout groups and hypothetical case scenarios to help participants reflect on their own experiences as mentors and mentees. NUCATS also offers a "Mentor Training Certificate Program” for faculty who hold appointments in the Feinberg School of Medicine or are members of NUCATS.
- Completion of all three required workshops, three elective workshops, program surveys and evaluations within three years will earn a NUCATS Mentor Training Certificate and fulfill Northwestern NIH Training Grant Requirements.
- All sessions will be in person at the Chicago Campus. Please contact Morgan Barrowman if you are interested in enrolling.
  - Details and Registration Here

Northwestern Requirements for Faculty on NIH Training Grants
- All faculty newly appointed to or named as potential mentors on a training grant as of September 1^st, 2024, are required to complete faculty mentor training at Northwestern that covers NIH recommended topics.
  - Available training that satisfies this requirement includes: the Office of the Provost’s “Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern” certificate and the NUCATS “Mentor Training Certificate Program.” These programs are described above and referred to here as “Provost” and “NUCATS Training.”
- All faculty who were named as existing mentors or preceptors (hereafter referred to as “mentors”) on training grants prior to September 1^st, 2024, are required to complete faculty mentor training that covers NIH recommended topics.
  - Available training that satisfies this requirement includes: the Office of the Provost’s “Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern” certificate and the NUCATS “Mentor Training Certificate Program.” Referred to as “Provost” and “NUCATS Training” through the rest of the document.
  - Any training taken prior to 2020 does not satisfy the requirement: mentors should complete the current Provost or NUCATS Training.
  - Northwestern and external training that covers the seven NIH recommended topics and was taken between 2020 and 2024 and previously fully reported (Title of Training, Date Completed) to TGSO satisfies the NU mentor training requirement. Contact TGSO with questions.
- All faculty listed as mentors on training grants are required to complete at least 3 “refresher” training session/workshops during the five years after their initial training. Qualified refresher training offered at Northwestern includes:
  - NUCATS annual elective workshops with varying session topics
  - The Graduate School’s Equity in Graduate Education Workshops on Equity-Minded Mentoring
  - The Office of the Provost is developing sessions on advanced and/or different topics for 2025-2026
  - If taking an external refresher, please inquire with TGSO. External refreshers taken before September 1^st, 2024, do not satisfy this requirement.
- FAQ/Resources
  - If all mentors on our grant will not be able to complete the full mentor training by the time our grant is up for renewal, what are our options?
    - If all mentors are unable to earn their certificates before renewal, the training grant director will need to provide a plan to Northwestern to ensure all mentors complete training in the first awarded year of a training program. We recommend that mentors complete faculty mentoring before mentoring a training grant trainee.
      - Mentors without mentor training should sign up for as many sessions as possible with the Office of the Provost or NUCATS prior to renewal, and they can complete the remaining sessions in the following year.
      - The Office of the Provost program is designed for faculty to complete sessions 1-4 prior to session 5. Mentors may contact faculty@northwestern.edu with questions.
  - How are faculty mentor trainings tracked at the institutional level?
    - The Training Grant Support Office keeps records of all faculty that have completed Northwestern training through the Office of the Provost and NUCATS.
  - How are trainings advertised?
    - Faculty mentor training is frequently advertised on the Office of the Provost’s Website, NUCATS Website, TGSO Website and TGSO newsletters. Training grant directors should be promoting and tracking faculty mentor training as well. Please reach out to the TGSO with questions.

Additional Mentoring Resources

National Research Mentoring Network
Five institutions were awarded funds to develop a national network to provide evidence-based and culturally-aware mentorship, grantsmanship training and other professional development, networking opportunities, and resources to mentors and their trainees across the biomedical sciences. Programming is available to support scientists throughout their career, from undergraduate students to senior faculty members. See the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN).
Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER)
CIMER faculty and staff investigate approaches for improving research mentoring relationships for organizations and institutions. We develop, implement and evaluate mentor and mentee training using theoretically-grounded, evidence-based, and culturally-responsive training interventions and investigations. See CIMER
Northwestern University CTSI Mentoring Alignment Checklist
The CTSI Mentoring Alignment Checklist features items for trainee and mentor expectations.
AAMC Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and Their Mentors
The Compact is intended to initiate discussions at the local and national levels about the postdoctoral trainee-mentor relationship and the commitments necessary for a high-quality postdoctoral training experience.
AAMC Compact Between Biomedical Graduate Students and Their Research Advisors
These guiding principles are intended to support the development of a positive mentoring relationship between the predoctoral student and their research advisors.