Excellence in Mentoring Awards FAQ

Typically, the nomination period is in the fall, but this may change from year to year. The request for nominations (RFN) is emailed to all HMS/HSDM faculty members, students and staff once the nomination period is open. The HMS Office for Culture and Community Engagement works closely with the faculty development offices at the affiliated hospitals and institutions to disseminate the RFN. We also post the RFN and deadlines on the OCCE website as soon as they are determined.

All nominations must be submitted via the online nomination form. Nominations and “letters of support” that are mailed, emailed, or faxed will not be accepted.

Before you begin your online nomination, it will be very helpful for you to know the following information about your mentor (name, degrees, HMS/HSDM faculty rank, current affiliation, department/division, email address, best phone number). You will also be asked to provide a narrative (less than 10,000 characters) describing the faculty member’s mentoring and the impact it has had on your personal and professional development and/or that of other individuals. As a precautionary measure, we strongly recommend that you save your narrative as a Word document and copy it into the online form in case you encounter technical difficulty.

Nominations may be submitted by any individual who has been mentored by the faculty member. Nominations may also be submitted by any colleague who has personally witnessed the impact of the faculty nominee’s mentorship on others. Nominations may be submitted by individuals within Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the affiliated institutions, as well as mentees/colleagues who have moved on to other institutions.

Self-nominations are not accepted for the HMS Excellence in Mentoring Awards. It is also expected that individuals will not solicit nominations for themselves.

There is no limit to the number of nominations that may be submitted for a faculty member. However, you may nominate only one faculty member within each award category (i.e., Silen Lifetime Award, Barger Award, Young Mentor Award).

While we prefer that each nominator submits his/her own nomination, we understand that this is not always possible. One nominator may submit a nomination on behalf of up to 3 colleagues. It is expected that all individuals contribute to the content of the narrative, whether it is by providing text about their own experiences or providing critical input to a draft of the nomination. The narrative should accurately represent the experiences of all of the nominators.

If multiple people choose to submit a single nomination, then one individual will complete the online nomination form on behalf of the others (by selecting “Yes” to the question about submitting on behalf of others). The nominator will also be required to input information on the co-nominators (e.g., name, affiliation, email address) in the space provided.

Please note that nominations and “letters of support” that are mailed, emailed, or faxed will not be accepted. All nominations must be submitted via the online nomination form.

No. You may nominate only one faculty member for each award (i.e., Silen Lifetime Award, Barger Award, Young Mentor Award).

Please refer to the Nomination Guidelines located on the Excellence in Mentoring Awards page.

Do not worry. We recognize that nominators may not know this information. We review all nominees and verify their number of years of service at HMS/HSDM. We will make sure that each nominee is considered for the award(s) for which they are eligible.

After submitting your nomination, you will receive an email (at the address provided) that your nomination was submitted successfully. You will also see an end-of-nomination form message confirming the submission of your nomination. If you are unsure or do not receive such confirmation, please email: mentoringaward_occe@hms.harvard.edu. 

Only nominations that are complete and contain valid information are accepted. If you are experiencing difficulty submitting your nomination or moving forward in your nomination, please consider the following to troubleshoot before contacting us:

• All fields must be completed. If a required field is incomplete or skipped, you will see “Please answer this question” immediately above the missed field(s).
• Phone numbers and email addresses must be provided in a valid format. If a format is invalid, you will be prompted to enter a valid US phone number (i.e., XXX-XXX-XXXX) and/or email address (e.g., xxx@hms.harvard.edu) before the nomination can be submitted.
• Some browsers may not be compatible with the software. Try using another browser, such as Safari or Firefox.

If you continue to experience difficulties in submitting your nomination, please contact mentoringaward_occe@hms.harvard.edu.

Your nomination will be read by members of the advisory committee, which includes faculty from across the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine community. It will also be read by individuals within OCCE who administer the Excellence in Mentoring Awards. The names of nominators are shared only with the advisory committee and designated individuals within OCCE.

In the event your nominee is selected to be a recipient of an HMS Excellence in Mentoring Award, we do provide awardees and their department chairs and chiefs with a redacted copy of his/her nominations. Although we carefully remove the nominator’s names and other personal identifying information, many nominations provide highly personalized content that it may be possible for an awardee to recognize who wrote a nomination by the information provided.

• Your nominee will only receive your nomination if s/he becomes a recipient of an Excellence in Mentoring Award.
• We do not provide copies of nominations to the nominees who did not receive an award.
• We do not provide the names of individuals who submitted a nomination to any award recipient or other nominee.

An advisory committee comprised of faculty from across the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine community will review the nominations and make recommendations to the Dean’s Office.

The recipients are generally announced in April, depending upon when the committee meets. We first contact all recipients by phone and email to inform them of their award.

Once all recipients are notified, we will post the recipients’ names on the Mentoring Awards website. We will also notify all individuals who submitted a nomination to let them know whether or not their nominee was selected for an Excellence Mentoring Award.

We will also email both the public affairs and faculty development offices at the affiliated institutions to provide them with the names of recipients and nominees from their institution.

Yes. Everyone who submitted a nomination will receive an email to let them know whether or not their nominee was selected for an Excellence in Mentoring Award. Due to the large volume of nominations that are received, the recipients may be posted on the website before you receive an email notification.