Description:  Mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral scholars involves providing career-development guidance and support, which requires an understanding of the hiring practices of diverse types of institutions. To this end, the OCPD team interviewed life science faculty members around the U.S. and asked them to identify the qualifications that were required for obtaining a faculty position at their institution, and the level of achievement candidates needed to receive a faculty job offer. The results were synthesized into a rubric, the Academic Career Readiness Assessment (ACRA). ACRA is an instrument used by trainees, graduate career educators, and faculty at UCSF and nationally to help prepare trainees for diverse academic careers, including careers at R1 institutions, primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), liberal arts colleges (LACs) and community colleges. Last month, the ACRA project received the first prize for the 2019 AAMC Innovations in Research and Research Education award.

In this workshop, we will discuss ways in which this tool can be used to set training expectations with your trainees, provide feedback on progress, help trainees prioritize training activities, and prepare them for the faculty application process. We will also present the methodology used to develop ACRA. The workshop will end with a conversation around your own experience developing skills for a faculty position and your thoughts on how the ACRA can be expanded to support your mentoring needs.

Resources from the workshop:

Workshop presentation (PDF)

Academic Career Readiness Assessment (PDF)

ACRA Training Goals and OCPD Programs (PDF)

Description:

Part 1: Promoting Student Mental Health and Assisting Students in Distress: A Presentation and Discussion (for Staff and Faculty)

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Part 2: When You're Concerned: A Workshop to Practice Difficult Conversations with Students about Their Mental Health and Wellbeing (for Faculty only)

Description: To help you determine how to effectively guide your trainees through an Independent Development Plan (IDP), this workshop will focus on key components of effective IDPs and IDP conversations.  Bill Lindstaedt, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Career Advancement, International and Postdoctoral Services, will share his expertise in order to frame the underlying aspects that make the effort of an IDP worth the effort, as well as different strategies that you can employ to get the most out of an IDP conversation.  Bill will also cover how you can adapt these strategies to help your trainees establish a COVID plan by working together to establish short-term and long-term goals that can provide much-needed structure during the current crisis. This workshop will include a presentation, small-group discussions of case studies using Zoom's breakout rooms, and large-group discussion/Q&A.

Materials from Effective Strategies for IDPs workshop:

• Presentation slides (PDF)
• Suggested IDP prompts for trainees and mentors
• Suggested "ICP" prompts for trainees and mentors
• Scenarios for rearranging research priorities
• Workshop recording (for UCSF faculty)

Other Useful Resources:

• Academic Career Readiness Assessment (ACRA)
• More information about IDPs

Description: To help you determine how to effectively guide your trainees through an Independent Development Plan (IDP), this workshop will focus on key components of effective IDPs and IDP conversations. Bill Lindstaedt, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Career Advancement, International and Postdoctoral Services, will share his expertise in order to frame the underlying aspects that make the effort of an IDP worth the effort, as well as different strategies that you can employ to get the most out of an IDP conversation. Bill will also cover how you can adapt these strategies to help your trainees establish a COVID plan by working together to establish short-term and long-term goals that can provide much-needed structure during the current crisis.  This iteration of a previosuly-delivered workshop will is aimed at helping faculty think through equitable, team-based appraoches for the partial resumption of lab research at UCSF.  This workshop will include a presentation, small-group discussions of case studies using Zoom's breakout rooms, and large-group discussion/Q&A.

Materials from Effective Strategies for IDPs workshop: (see above as well)

• Presentation slides (PDF)
• Presentation slides (PPTX)
• Suggested "ICP" prompts for trainees and mentors
• Scenarios for rearranging research priorities (updated)
• Workshop recording (for UCSF faculty)

Description:  The Graduate Division conducted a pulse check survey of graduate students and faculty to understand the complex challenges that members of our community are facing (data coming soon). Understandably, our trainees are generally struggling with many complex mental health issues that are complicated by the uncertainty and disruption caused by the pandemic. Faculty face their own challenges during this crisis and our data reveal that the difficult task of attending to student mental health has become even more difficult.

Mental health support staff from Student Health and Counseling Services and from the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program will lead this session, aimed at providing you with guidance and an opportunity to voice your concerns.

Materials from Q&A Session:

• PowerPoint slides
• PowerPoint PDF
• Video Recording of Q&A Session

Description:  It can be difficult to know how to effectively adapt in-person courses to online formats. This webinar will present a conceptual framework and guiding principles that can help you strategically assess how to transition your current courses online. During this webinar, you will also learn about practical tools and resources available to you and learn from other faculty about what has worked for them.

Virtual Learning Resources