Dear Colleagues,
Columbia is deeply committed to fostering scholarly growth at all phases of an academic career, so I am pleased to introduce an addition to a growing number of resources offered to strengthen mentoring across the university and guide faculty in their work to train tomorrow’s leaders in their fields.
This new course, available through CourseWorks, was created for faculty and researchers who mentor graduate students and postdocs. The course’s four modules illustrate an iterative mentoring cycle, incorporating the most relevant research and situating the conversation in a Columbia context. Each module encourages mentors to reflect on their practices and plan for future conversations with mentees.
This course is part of the ongoing Advancing Mentorship Practices: Supporting Mentors of Graduate Students and Postdocs at Columbia initiative and adds to a growing library of resources to advance mentorship, including a Guide to Best Practices for Faculty Mentoring.
Other New Resources to Support Faculty and Researchers
This mentoring course is one of several new programs and resources designed to support instructors as they address challenges. These include Teaching in Times of Stress and Challenge and Navigating Heated, Offensive, and Tense (HOT) Moments in the Classroom. I also encourage everyone to access other campus-wide resources for times of crisis.
Mentors play a critical role in ensuring that our graduate students and postdocs can thrive, achieving their goals while learning and conducting research at Columbia, and we celebrate some of our faculty who demonstrate exceptional commitment to mentoring through the annual Faculty Mentoring Awards. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Columbia mentors for your work to create a sense of belonging for students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty and researchers, and for supporting them throughout their journey. Your commitment to mentoring is critical to the future of your mentees, and also to your field of scholarship. Thank you for all you do.
Sincerely,
Dennis
Dennis A. Mitchell, DDS, MPH (he/him)
Interim Provost
Professor of Dental Medicine at CUIMC
