Early Pathways to Career Success

A scaled up version of the Center for Women in Medicine and Science (CWIMS) program of the same name, OFA's Early Pathways to Career Success, is available for all Medical School faculty.

The OFA Early Pathways to Career Success program is a ten month long program that will explain and elucidate the early pathways of academic success for new faculty. Skills training in advocating for oneself, learning key best practices for promotion and tenure, faculty resources regarding wellness, balance, and peer mentoring, are shared in addition to specific logistics related to human resources such as FMLA, disability, stop-the-clock, and others.

Meetings for this program will begin on Nov. 1, 2022 and continue monthly through Aug. 8, 2023. All meetings are from 8-9:30 a.m. and will be held remotely via Zoom.

The deadline to register for the 2022-23 cohort has passed.

Interested in participating in a gender-specific (i.e. faculty identifying as women) 2022-2023 cohort? Learn more here.

Questions? Contact OFA at ms-ofa@umn.edu.

Faculty Facilitators

Marija Cvetanovic, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience; Michael Pitt, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Guiding Assumptions

  • When faculty feel connected, supported and a sense of “home” within a small group of colleagues, they are more likely to experience personal wellness and professional success.
  • When faculty are engaged with peers and institutional programs, they are more likely to be retained in their positions.
  • There are key skill sets that can support the success of academic faculty in their careers. Some of these skills expand beyond traditional academic career development and include factors such as work-life balance and financial wellness. 

Program Goals

  • Increase average rates of retention for new faculty through increasing new faculty engagement, creating a sense of small group connection, and promoting strategic peer mentoring.

  • Provide early pathways to success for new faculty through skills training, opportunity sharing, and peer mentoring.

  • Increase the success of promotion and tenure.

Framework

Conceptual Framework

Framework developed by: Rahel Ghebre, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health; Sade Spencer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology