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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Dear graduate students, UROPs, postdocs, and other lab members,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Thank you again to everyone who filled out our first annual department mentoring survey. We were happy to receive almost 250 responses, and I hope you enjoyed bubble tea on July 26 to celebrate this high rate of
participation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">I am writing to share the anonymized survey results</span>, which you can access
<a href="https://tableau.mit.edu/t/IR/views/BiologyMentoringSurveyJuly2024PUBLIC/Overallsatisfaction">
here</a><span style="color:black">. I am gratified that most lab members are satisfied with their current mentoring situation and lab environment, but I recognize that some people are not and there is room for improvement.
</span>Certain<span style="color:black"> questions highlighted areas </span>where<span style="color:black"> better communication would be helpful. Overall, the data provide insights into our relative strengths and weaknesses</span> that will help us focus our
initiatives and policies and <span style="color:black">create a baseline that will allow us to track trends over time</span>. I am sharing the data with the faculty, and we will be discussing mentoring in our faculty meetings.<span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">I appreciated the input of many of you who provided thoughtful responses to the prompt: “<span style="background:white">Please share any strategies that you have found useful to take a proactive role in your own
mentoring.” We indicated in the survey that we would share those ideas, and they are
</span></span><span style="color:black;background:white">attached to this message as a PDF and will be
</span><span style="color:black;background:white">posted on our <a href="https://biology.mit.edu/internal/mentoring-students-and-early-career-scientists/">
mentoring page</a>. I highly recommend reading these comments from your peers. Speaking to a wide range of people and asking for feedback and what you need are strong themes in these responses.</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Note that Hallie is running a workshop for graduate students on August 13/15 about mentoring across levels, and there is still time to sign up, until Monday at noon,
</span><span style="color:black;background:white"><a href="https://forms.gle/oD9jKMMyq3NWrRbDA">here</a> (see email from Hallie on 7/18 for more information).</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">If you feel that you are not getting what you need in terms of mentorship, I urge you to discuss this with your PI - open communication is often the best and most effective solution. There are
also many people with whom you can strategize and resources you can access. Visit our
<a href="https://biology.mit.edu/internal/mentoring-students-and-early-career-scientists/">
mentoring page</a>, and consider speaking with Hallie Dowling-Huppert, a BioREF, a department faculty or staff member (including your building HR director or Mandana), deans in GradSupport (for grad students), or your academic advisor (for UROPs).</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I’d like to thank Iain and the committee he chaired that helped to develop this survey: Laurie Boyer, Joey Davis, Omer Yilmaz, Francisco Sanchez Rivera, Alison Ringel, Erika Weiskopf, Kelsey Farenhem, Tobias Coombs, Alison Wirshing,
and Melissa Pamula. <span style="color:black;background:white">If you have suggestions about how the department can support stronger mentoring relationships, feel free to email Iain or me, or come to my department head
</span><span style="color:black;background:white"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rd7Q4He6WzD9k263dCPR3iHVlZW88GdMNCq0Gv-iauA/edit?usp=sharing">office hours</a></span><span style="color:black;background:white"> to chat.</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">I hope you will</span><span style="color:black;background:white"> respond again next year - we value your input.</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Best regards,</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background:white">Amy</span><span style="background:white"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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