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.

• Full-time tenure-track faculty
• Full-time 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) Quality of the mentorship project

• Proposal responds to a compelling mentorship need that differs from mentoring activities normally supported or provided by a department, school/college, or program. 

• Proposal outcomes are detailed and clearly stated and uses the mutual mentoring model.

• Clear alignment between intended outcomes, proposed activities, and mentoring network.

 2) Feasibility

• Proposal activities are well planned and can realistically be accomplished in the grant period.

• Budget is reasonable and requests are clearly justified.  

3) Impact

• Proposal describes how the project will affect the faculty member's professional goals and the rationale for this request to the Mutual Mentoring Program at this time.  

• Impact on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

• Sustainability of the mentoring impact over time.

• 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) Establishing life-work strategies: Prioritizing and/or balancing teaching, research, and service; establishing short-term and long-term goals; finding a time management system that works for you; attending to quality-of-life issues such as dual careers, childcare, 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.

• 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.

Q: I previously received a mutual mentoring micro 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: Full-time tenure-track faculty, full-time non-tenure-track faculty on continuing appointments, and full-time librarians on continuing 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:  Non-tenure-track 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 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 full-time tenure-track faculty, full-time non-tenure-track faculty on continuing appointments, and full-time librarians on continuing 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: Do you have any particular requirements regarding the format of the proposal?

A: Please answer each of the questions provided within the word count limit. Questions are provided in the online application form.

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: Can my application focus on " . . ."?

A:  If you are wondering whether your idea is suitable for a mutual mentoring grant application, review the guidelines, look at past examples, and consider the MM priority areas to see if your project fits within these parameters. OFD welcomes your questions, so please feel free to contact us.    

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.). It is wise to review your budget with your department's bookkeeper before submission. Also, MM grants do not fund student research assistants. 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.