Mutual Mentoring Grant Program

Mutual mentoring departs from traditional top-down, one-on-one, senior-to-junior mentorship by:

• Encouraging the cultivation of non-hierarchical, collaborative networks of mentors who exchange knowledge and experience in specific areas, such as research, teaching, the tenure process, or life-work balance.
• Assuring that each “node,” or person in the network, provides specific areas of knowledge and experience; and  
• Forming network relationships to benefit both the person traditionally known as the “mentee” as well as the person traditionally known as the “mentor.”

Mentoring partners may choose to meet one on one, as a group, in subgroups, in person or remotely, or in a combination of these suggested formats.  

Mutual mentoring has been proven to support faculty by helping them to develop their professional identities, promoting their well-being and job satisfaction, and improving productivity. Studies consistently find that mutual mentoring relationships lead to increased research output, more effective teaching, more dynamic networks, and improved tenure and promotion prospects. It nurtures vital social connections with colleagues who can provide advice, encouragement, and feedback over the course of a faculty member’s professional life.

The Office of Faculty Development offers two types of mutual mentoring grants:

• Microgrants of up to $1,500 are offered to individual UMass Amherst faculty/librarians to conduct a mutual mentoring project. Microgrants can involve up to two additional people who are within or outside of UMass Amherst. 
• Team grants of up to $6,000 are offered to teams of four UMass Amherst faculty/librarians to conduct a mutual mentoring project. Team grant projects can involve additional team members who are within or outside of UMass Amherst.

• Tenure-track faculty
• Non-tenure-track faculty and librarians on continuing-track appointments

Please note for team grants: If your team includes more than four people, at least four must meet the above eligibility criteria.    

1. Strong case for a mentorship need for faculty/librarians that differs from mentoring activities normally supported or provided by a department, school/college, or program.
2. Compelling argument for how using the mutual mentoring model for project activities will fulfill faculty member(s) professional development goals at this particular juncture in their career.
3. Proposed outcomes and plan are detailed clearly and there is alignment between intended outcomes and proposed mentoring activities.
4. Project aims to create new networks by deploying the mutual mentoring model
5. Proposal activities are appropriate and can realistically be accomplished within one year
6. Budget is reasonable and requests are clearly justified.
7. For teams, roles of each core team member clearly identified.
8. Proposal is sensitive to equity and inclusion within the mutual mentoring group, and/or will support equity and inclusion on campus.

• Applicants will be notified in late April of the status of their proposals.  
• Upon conclusion of the grant year, awardees agree to provide a 500-word summary of their activities and a final budget of grant expenses.  
• We may request your team to present their project to the campus more broadly at an OFD event.
• Director of Faculty Development Leyla Keough-Hameed will support awardees’ mentoring activities through an initial launch meeting and a brief check-in halfway through the year. Leyla is also available to answer questions throughout the year, as needed.

There are numerous challenges to professional success and well-being that can be used to generate ideas for mentoring groups; below we have listed some of these. Proposals could include one or more of these themes or fall outside them entirely. Proposals do not have to include these themes to be considered or awarded.

1) Getting to know the institution: Understanding the academic culture of departments, schools/colleges, and the institution; identifying resources to support research and teaching; and creating a trusted network of junior and senior colleagues.

2) Understanding promotion: Better understanding of the tenure and promotion processes for all ranks (promotion to associate or full professor ranks, to senior lecturer or senior lecturer II, librarian promotions, etc.); learning more about the criteria for evaluating research and teaching performance; finding support in developing the promotion dossier; soliciting feedback on the quality and quantity of work through the annual faculty review, etc.

3) Developing a support network: Forging career-enhancing relationships with faculty (at UMass Amherst or outside the institution) who share similar interests, challenges, and/or opportunities. Networks designed to support underrepresented faculty, mid-career faculty, and faculty interested in future leadership roles.

4) Excelling at research: Developing a research/writing plan, identifying sources of internal and external funding, soliciting feedback on manuscripts and grant proposals, setting up and running a successful laboratory, or identifying outside scholars who could be external reviewers.

5) Excelling at teaching: Finding support for teaching, such as developing new courses, pedagogical methods, technologies, interdisciplinary curricula, or supporting the learning of all students.

6) Strategies for well-being: Prioritizing and/or balancing teaching, research, and service; establishing short-term and long-term goals; finding a time management system that works for you; work-life integration; attending to quality-of-life issues such as dual careers, caretaking, and affordable housing.

7) Building interdisciplinary teams: Reaching out to faculty across campus with similar scholarly interests who are in different fields; getting together to exchange ideas; for existing interdisciplinary teams, sharing ideas on finding funding and team collaboration; connecting with expertise on campus or off to help improve your collaboration.

8) Building belonging and connection: Building relationships, whether they be within identity group(s), with those who share a career stage or role, or between those within a particular unit (a department, a discipline, a college); bringing together individuals across difference(s) to promote communication and understanding and to bridge social divides.

9) Engaging the public: Co-learning and sharing best practices to disseminate scholarship to the public, conduct public outreach, and/or engage communities with scholarly work. Gathering to learn a new method (participatory research; community engaged research); connecting with scholars who excel at engaging the public.

10) ADVANCE Program related: Mentoring that promotes access to resources, recognition of contributions, and supportive relationships that are essential for equitable collaborations, with a particular focus on groups supporting intersectional gender equity.

11) COACHE related: Mutual mentoring to improve faculty satisfaction identified as concerning in the 2024 COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey.

Q: I previously received a mutual mentoring grant. Can I apply again this year?  

A: You can apply again for a MM micro grant. However, priority will be given to individuals who previously have not received a grant. You also may apply as a member of a team grant application.  

Q: Can I apply as both a member of a team grant mentoring application and also apply as an individual for a micro grant? 

A: You may apply as part of a team grant application and also submit a micro individual grant application during the same round. However, given that the Mutual Mentoring Program is highly competitive, the review committee will consider equity of distribution of resources among faculty applicants. 

Q: Is mutual mentoring grant support available to full professors? Lecturers? Librarians?

A: Tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track faculty on continuing appointments, and librarians on continuing-track appointments are eligible for the MM grant program.

Q: Can non-continuous appointment faculty apply for a grant or be a part of a team?

A: Faculty without a continuous appointment are not eligible for micro-grants. They can partner with tenure-track and/or non-tenure-track faculty with continuing appointments as a mentoring partner on a team grant or as a core team member if the team already has four faculty who are on the tenure track or have continuing appointments. 

Q: What is the distinction between the core team members and mentoring partners?  

A: The core team comprises UMass Amherst faculty who are invested in the mutual mentoring project, have participated in its development, and will engage throughout the project year in its administration. Eligible core team members are tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track faculty on continuing appointments, and librarians on continuing-track appointments. The core team comprises four or more faculty and may include a mix of types and ranks of faculty as long as the majority of the individuals on the core team meet the eligibility criteria. Mentoring partners do not play as key a role in the implementation of the project. They also can be faculty from other institutions.  

Q: Is it okay not to know the exact person we're looking to consult with as a mentor when constructing the budget?

A: Your application does not need to include a mentor's confirmation that they will participate in the project. It is, however, important to demonstrate in your proposal that you have clear mentoring objectives and plans for addressing those areas. You may include potential mentors who you believe would participate in your project.

Q: What can I ask for in the budget?  What expenses are okay?

A: All expenses must follow the guidelines of the UMass Amherst Business Expense Policy (i.e., UMass only allows non-travel reimbursement as an exception, does not allow paying for faculty time, etc.). Review your budget with your department's bookkeeper before submission. Also, MM grants do not fund student research assistants nor do they provide additional compensation for faculty members. However, MM awards have provided funding for student hours when assisting a team with administering the MM project, such as scheduling meetings.  

Q: Can emeritus faculty be solicited for consultation services or be part of my mentoring network?

A: Yes, emeritus faculty members can be included as mentoring partners, but they can only be compensated for their participation if they have not been at UMass Amherst for over a year.

• Hyeyoung Park (Assistant Professor, NURS)
• Joohyun Chung (Associate Professor, NURS) 
• Yu-Kyong Choe (Associate Professor, SPHHS)  
• Jeungok Choi (Professor, NURS) 
• Am-Ram Lee (Assistant Professor, SBS) 

We, the five core members of this mutual mentoring team, set out to build up a sustainable support network for female Korean faculty at UMass Amherst. Thanks to the generous award of the mentoring team grant from the Office of Faculty Development, we successfully completed the proposed activities as listed above. The yearlong mentoring program had the following impact. 

1.  Became aware of our own presence, our shared concerns, and our collective urge for a support network. In the fall semester of 2022, Sarah Yoon, a female Korean-American undergraduate student, painstakingly went through every single department website at UMass Amherst to look for female Korean faculty members. Because of the uniqueness of Korean names and Sarah’s high proficiency in Korean, she was able to compile a comprehensive list. To our own surprise, we identified 20 female Korean faculty members, all of whom were first-generation immigrants from Korea. Most of us did not know others’ presence primarily because we would work diligently without making ourselves widely known to others. Becoming aware of our surprisingly big presence on the UMass Amherst campus was empowering to all of us.   

Throughout the academic year of 2022-2023, all female Korean faculty were invited to attend group meetings with guest mentors and the mentoring workshop. During the gatherings, we realized that certain topics (e.g., work-life balance, and under-representation of female Korean faculty in leadership positions) strongly resonated amongst us. As we have identified our common interests and concerns, we hope to continue our group discussions and to find our path forward and upward. 

At the conclusion of our yearlong mentoring project, we are fully committed to sustaining and growing our support network. We are truly thankful that the mentoring grant has given us a formal framework and various tools for us to initiate the process.   

2. Made our presence known to others. As listed above, we had group meetings with on-campus guest mentors and we hosted a half-day workshop with speakers from other institutions. The guest mentors and outside speakers were surprised to hear about the big number of female Korean faculty at UMass Amherst. All of them expressed strong interest in our mutual mentoring group, gave us tips to thrive at this predominantly white institution, and highly encouraged us to increase the visibility of our group. We hope to continue our relationship with the guest mentors and outside speakers. Ideally, they all can be part of our ongoing support network of mutual mentoring. 

As we were preparing for the half-day workshop, we did our best to advertise the event by sending messages and our flyer to associate deans in colleges, graduate student groups, undergraduate student groups, and male Korean faculty at UMass Amherst. Very likely, many recipients of the emails never heard about our mentoring group and never thought that there could be an active group of female Korean faculty at UMass Amherst. We are glad that they all know now. It was our great satisfaction to see many non-Korean students attending our workshop and learning about our presence on campus. We are even more glad that the students had a chance to think about how “otherness” would feel like. In the future, we continue our effort to make ourselves known, seen, and heard. 

We had our first group meeting in January 2022 to discuss our proposal for a mutual mentoring team grant. Since then, we have had numerous meetings and organized many events together. While we have achieved a lot, we still know that this is only the beginning. Most of all, we are truly glad that our full commitment to this community is as strong as we felt during our first meeting 17 months ago. We will continue to nurture and grow this budding network of support. 

• Nicholas Caverly (Assistant Professor) 
• Kelsey Whipple (Assistant Professor) 
• Burcu Baykurt (Assistant Professor) 
• Lynette Arnold (Assistant Professor) 

The Books in SBS mutual mentoring group met regularly during AY23-24, with some members continuing to meet after the conclusion of the project year. During AY23-24, group members convened for monthly write-on-site events (some in-person in the SBS dean's office, others virtually) in which they set goals, shared writing strategies, and had discussions about the process of moving a manuscript through the publication process. This mutual mentoring group benefited from unanticipated synergies with OFD and Five College sponsored events that were convened to demystify book publishing, as well as OFD-sponsored writing accountability gatherings. Members of Books in SBS participated in these events and shared back their learning with others who could not attend. Books in SBS members did find that organizing monthly gatherings for mutual support was a significant undertaking, especially for untenured faculty navigating reappointment and promotion. At the same time, two Books in SBS members had their book manuscripts accepted and completed revisions during the mutual mentoring project period. Two other members submitted their manuscripts for review. For this reason, we are grateful to OFD for supporting our project. 

• Rosa Moscarella (Senior Lecturer) 
• Caralyn Zehnder (Senior Lecturer)  
• Caleb Rounds (Senior Lecturer) 
• Laura Francis (Senior Lecturer II) 

Our proposal focuses on the theme “Excelling in Teaching”. The members of our team are all faculty involved in teaching Introductory Biology I (BIO151), an introductory biology class taken by all life science majors. This course satisfies the Biology general education and major requirements for several majors and success in BIO151 is fundamental for students to progress toward the completion of their majors. Annually, we serve ~1700 students. Such a large course is inherently diverse, with students at different levels of preparation. We have 6 large sections in the fall and 2 in the spring, taught by different faculty. While we cover similar content (>75%) and share common student’s learning goals, it is necessary to revisit our current teaching practices and learning goals in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic on students' college preparedness, to better serve our students in a more equitable and inclusive manner.”  

• Lucy Xiaolu Wang (Assistant Professor, SBS) 
• Debi Prasad Mohapatra (Assistant Professor, SBS) 
• Christopher Boone (Assistant Professor, SBS) 
• Liz Evans (Professor, SPHHS) 

We seek to address the mentoring challenge that we do not have a solid health economics research community at UMass Amherst, despite the presence of many researchers working on health-related topics. This is particularly challenging for junior scholars (pre-tenure faculty members) looking for a productive internal UMass collaboration network for research and grant writing.

There have been some challenges in connecting health-relevant researchers on campus and retaining health economics faculty members (we lost two health economists in the resource economics department and one health economist based in the Department of Health Promotion and Policy). Many graduate students are interested in health economics relevant research and the bright job market opportunities within academia and beyond, but some students hold hesitation on diving deeper into this area, in the absence of a stable local research community. In addition, the distance between UMass Medical School in Worcester and UMass Amherst makes it hard to share resources and generate synergies in grant writing-related collaborations. It is important to address these challenges as we try to build a health economics research cluster at UMass Amherst.  

Building up a health economics research seminar series and local community can help faculty and students “find each other” in research collaboration by providing a venue to present original research projects in a low-stress environment, learn from internal and external speakers, identify potential coauthors for new research projects or grant applications, and build a supportive local friendship network. All these activities can help build belonging and connections for researchers at UMass Amherst and yield valuable educational opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. We plan to also cross-advertise some activities with other institutions on campus, including the Computational Social Sciences Initiative and the Institute for Diversity Sciences.  

Different from these overall broad institutions, we focus on building up a core identity within health economics (broadly defined) with regular research communications while engaging scholars from other disciplines who are looking for health economics collaborators. In this way, we can potentially address the conflicting incentives that tenure requirements are field-specific, but large grants often value cross-disciplinary work. The main mentoring theme for this project is Excelling at Research. We also touch on a few other themes, including: Building Interdisciplinary Teams, Building Belonging and Connection, and Developing a Support Network. The goal is to build a solid research community for health economics by connecting scholars working in different departments across the university, as well as building connections between this group and external scholars working in the field. We elaborated on our action plan concerning how to build these connections in the answers to the other questions below. Upon casual discussions with other faculty across different departments and colleges on campus, we have already gathered some broad interests in attending the seminar series and enthusiasm on health economics related research and grant collaborations. Through these connections, we can share ideas about research, pursue possibilities for collaboration related to research and grant proposals, and build networks with potential mentors. 

Katie Sveinson (Assistant Professor, ISOM)

The mutual mentoring micro grant has been deeply enriching in both my professional and personal growth. In connecting with a senior scholar who was brought to campus, I was able to host sessions for PhD students and faculty, as well as develop a research agenda on future projects with an international scholar. The relationship cultivated through the mutual mentoring grant has led to new research projects, guidance on tenure and promotion, and discussions over teaching effectiveness. With the grant, I have been able to increase my support network and feel more confident in pursing tenure and promotion. 

Luke Bloomfield (Senior Lecturer, SBS)

During the 2023 – 2024 academic year, I used a Mutual Mentoring Micro Grant to explore the uses and impact of AI large language models at UMass. I met with Kyle Johnson (Linguistics), Joe Levine (Philosophy), Ethan Zuckerman (Public Policy), Fran Berman (CICS), and Torrey Trust (Education). These conversations gave me insight on the subject and helped to expand my method of teaching in an AI context. On April 26, 2024, I moderated the panel “Three Semesters Later: How Is ChatGPT Being Used in the Classroom.” Ethan, Fran, and Torrey presented their approach to teaching with AI to a packed room in the ILC and a remote audience on Zoom. Torrey and Fran presented slides giving examples of how they integrate AI into their pedagogy, and Ethan shared his philosophical outlook on how AI can benefit academia while also highlighting the potential damage it could cause if we don’t slow down and thoroughly wrap our heads around this phenomenon before welcoming it into our lives. Not only has this grant made it possible for me to focus on learning about AI, but I successfully leveraged it to apply for and get accepted into the PIT@UMass Faculty Fellowship program for the 2024 – 2025 academic year. 

• Off-campus meetings to visit a mentoring partner to learn or discuss a new research area or teaching method.  
• Remote consulting/coaching on a particular professional development area.   
• Travel expenses to co-present with a mentoring partner(s), and/or meet new or existing mentoring partner(s) at a professional conference.  
• Modest honoraria to bring a mentoring partner to UMass Amherst for in-person mentoring and/or a public event, such as a departmental workshop or talk.  
• Editing services from a writing coach or an editor to proofread, fine tune, or edit a scholarly manuscript for submission.  
• Mentoring for research support such as methodology consultation.