Jackowski, Fankhauser to study mentoring programs

Rebekah Jackowski, clinical assistant professor, and Martie Fankhauser, clinical professor, both of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, have received a $4,175 UA ADVANCE grant to study faculty mentoring programs at the Arizona Health Sciences Center.

“This is a two-phase study,” says Jackowski (at right in photo). “The grant we just received is for phase one.”

The first phase involves identifying and describing existing faculty mentoring programs at AHSC, which is composed of the colleges of medicine, nursing, public health and pharmacy.

“We want to see what formal programs exist in which senior faculty are mentors to junior faculty,” says Jackowski.

To do that, the two co-principal investigators will develop a survey and send it to the heads of the approximately 26 departments at AHSC. The project goals are to:

1. Identify existing formalized mentoring programs in the four colleges.
2. Describe the goals/objectives and key components of the programs.
3. Identify and compare their key components.
4. Define and compare the activities that constitute a mentoring program or mentoring relationship.

The first part of the study should be completed by the summer of 2010. Jackowski and Fankhauser hope to receive another ADVANCE grant for the next phase.

ADVANCE is the name given by the National Science Foundation to the program “Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers.” During Phase Two, Jackowski and Fankhauser will, in part, attempt to measure how much mentoring programs at AHSC do just that.

“We want to see if mentoring programs increase optimal outcomes for junior faculty who have participated in the programs, especially women and minorities,” says Fankhauser. “We’ll be studying outcomes such as how much junior faculty members publish, get promoted, and receive grants. Maybe we’ll learn that formal mentoring programs make a positive difference in people’s careers.”

Posted Oct. 5, 2009 For more information, contact
Karin Lorentzen
(520) 626-3725