Here are the upcoming mentor training opportunities for faculty. If you want to be notified of future trainings, email Dave at david.mcdonald@unc.edu to join the interest list.

Cultivating Mentors

The BioSTAR Office is again offering the three-part Cultivating Mentors workshop series this year. Designed in partnership with Theater Delta and for faculty participants, each workshop includes in-depth conversations and activities to help prepare faculty mentors for the complicated situations that can arise in our research and learning environments. We will use video case studies representing real situations to discuss strategic mentoring practices. Faculty can sign up for single topics or the whole series. If you’ve already completed the foundational mentor training offered by the BioSTAR Office (see below), then these workshops are an excellent way to build additional skills in supporting your trainees.

Each session will be held in-person to foster dialogue and provide opportunities for practice.

Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/gc6LqnyJx5

WORKSHOP 1 – Critical Feedback
WHEN: Wed, October 8, 9am-11:30am
WHERE: MacNider 018
In this session, we will focus on giving and receiving critical feedback with mentees. We will examine these questions: Where does expertise lie? How do we handle the mistakes of others, or even our own?

WORKSHOP 2 – Conflict Resolution
WHEN: Fri, November 14, 9am-11:30am
WHERE: Bondurant G030
In this session, we will discuss different kinds of conflict that can arise in our spaces. We will discuss the questions: How do we use our authority? What does silence actually say? When is it our responsibility to intervene, and how?

WORKSHOP 3 – Communicating Expectations
WHEN: Thurs, February 26, 12-2:30 pm
WHERE: Location TBD
In this session, we will explore how communicating expectations contributes to an overall lab culture. We will discuss how to identify and establish a specific, healthy working culture in our environments.

 

Foundational Mentor Training

Next training: Thursday, December 4, 12pm-4pm (Part 1) + Thursday, December 11, 12pm-4pm (Part 2)
Lunch provided

Register here: https://unc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4ZNG61nl0ASpajI

The BioSTAR Office’s Mentoring Workshop for Biomedical Researchers is a series of discussions on mentoring for faculty and postdocs who train graduate students, undergraduates, postdocs, or junior faculty in the life sciences. This program is based on a Research Mentor Training curriculum developed for biomedical researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison, and includes training sessions on the following topics:

  • Effective Communication
  • Aligning Expectations
  • Assessing Understanding
  • Fostering Independence
  • Self-Efficacy
  • Professional Development
  • Promoting a Sense of Belonging

View the list of participants who have completed the mentor training series here. If you have questions, you can email Dave McDonald (david.mcdonald@unc.edu). Additional mentor trainings are also provided by UNC’s Center for Faculty Excellence.