Resources

From the Association of American Medical Colleges, this guide to managing a team is useful to anyone in a leadership position or on a team, such as a graduate student or postdoc leading a research effort. Learn about the different types of teams, how specific goals help motivate teams, and how consensus is a tool for team decision-making.

The Windhover offers a number of free programs to both students and staff/faculty, covering the fundamentals of meditation and mindful yoga. Intended for beginners, these workshops are intended to introduce you to this unique resource on campus and to provide instruction on a variety of contemplative practices. 

Graduate school can be an emotionally challenging time. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Vaden offers several mental health related resources to help you cope with various challenges that arise. From dealing with anxiety to overcoming procrastination, this website provides you with tools and resources to promote and maintain your well-being. 

Often mentees are passive in their relationships with mentors, leaving it up to the mentor to direct the relationship. "Mentoring up” is a concept that empowers mentees to be active participants in their mentoring relationships by shifting the emphasis from the mentors’ responsibilities in the mentor-mentee relationship to equal emphasis on the mentees’ contributions. This chapter on "Mentoring Up" from The Mentoring Continuum offers specific strategies that mentees can use to consciously contribute to and guide the mentoring relationship. 

While mentoring is often viewed as one person giving and the other person receiving, it can be better defined as a mutually empowering relationship where both parties learn and benefit. This video offers insight into the importance of developing mentoring relationships that are based on both similarity and difference. If you are trying to figure out how a mentoring relationship should work (as either the mentor or mentee), check this video out for a unique point of view and some excellent advice on how to have an effective relationship. All videos from this Voice & Influence series on the VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab website include a downloadable discussion guide and links to further resources.

These simple, clear online surveys can provide you with valuable feedback on your teaching at any point in the quarter. Offered by Learning Technologies and Spaces (LTS) within Student Affairs, this guide to instructor-designed online evaluations provides a great way to enhance and grow your teaching practice as a TA or instructor. Use the templates provided to create and submit your evaluation at least a week before your desired evaluation date. Open to all instructors and TAs.

Start your financial literacy journey with Mind Over Money, Stanford's student resource for money management. A part of Stanford Student Affairs, Mind Over Money offers learning resources and individual consultations to help you build your knowledge on topics from budgeting and credit to investing and retirement.

Through Stanford's institutional membership, all graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty have access to the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), which provides professional development, training, and mentoring. NCFDD resources are broadly applicable across academic disciplines and include a range of topics such as time management, overcoming academic perfectionism, developing a daily writing plan, writing grant proposals, and more. These resources offer concrete guidance that could increase your productivity and your sense of well-being.

NCFDD member resources include:

• Monday Motivator Newsletter – includes productivity tips
• Webinars & Multi-Week Courses – led by expert facilitators 
• Private Discussion Forums – network, participate in writing challenges, problem-solve, and share information (login required)
• The Library – slides and audio recordings of webinars from the year (login required)
• Resources and Referrals – services for coaching, editing, and recommended readings (login required)

How to Activate Your Stanford Sponsored Membership:

1. Go to the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity website (http://www.facultydiversity.org/).
2. Select the “Become a Member” tab and choose “Claim Your Institutional Membership.”
3. Within the list of universities, click on "Stanford University."
4. Complete the registration form by following all instructions. Be sure to provide your Stanford email address.
5. Once you have submitted your registration information and NCFDD has approved your connection to Stanford, you should receive a welcome email.

The National Research Mentoring Network provides opportunities for virtual mentorship (as a mentor or mentee) with trainings and guidance to broaden participation in every career stage in the biomedical workforce. Many of their resources about how to be a good mentor and mentee, as well as finding a mentor, are broadly applicable to all fields. Create a free account to join!

From Nature, this guide for mentors draws from the reflections of the mentees of award-winning mentors, and asks what elements and characteristics make a good mentor? If you are a graduate student or postdoc mentoring a student for the first time, or a student trying to figure out what kind of mentor you want, read and reflect on this article. 

Graduate school is both extraordinarily rewarding and demanding at the same time. Getting perspective on what to expect, how to anticipate and deal with potential problems, and just hearing the experiences of others can be invaluable. The Stanford Biosciences Student Association has compiled a list of resources and articles to give you some perspective as you navigate through grad school. Excellent reads for both new students just starting out and students well into their graduate school experience.

For current postdocs, or graduate students thinking about what they want to accomplish during a future postdoc, an Individual Development Plan (IDP) is vital. Stanford University has adopted a new policy requiring all postdoctoral scholars to complete and discuss an IDP with their appointing faculty sponsor on an annual basis. This resource from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs can help you think about what your IDP should cover, and how to discuss the contents of the plan with your sponsor.

Negotiation is a critical skill for professional advancement. Yet as Stanford Business School Professor Margaret Neale shows, women are judged more harshly for negotiating than men are. In this video, she offers strategies for addressing gendered expectations during the process of negotiation. She advocates for the reframing of negotiation as problem solving. All videos from this Voice & Influence series on the VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab website include a downloadable discussion guide and links to further resources.

Are you facing the prospect of a job offer with potential for salary or benefits negotiation? Or, just looking to improve your negotiation skills? Either way, check out this video of Stevie Eberle, of BioSci Careers, as she leads a Negotiation Workshop for School of Medicine students. Learn what's negotiable and what's not, how to manage assertiveness, how to maximize joint outcomes, and more. 

Teaching a course this year, and have some questions regarding your students with OAE accommodations? Take a look at this page to find the answers to some of the most frequently asked OAE related issues. 

The Office for Religious Life offers several small fellowships to graduate students to explore various aspects of religion. Although you do not have to study religion specifically as a graduate student, successful applicants will demonstrate a genuine desire to explore religion in their own lives and a willingness to listen and learn from those with different backgrounds. 

One of the most important aspects of being a responsible scientist is learning to engage the community in your work by explaining research and science in an effective and captivating manner. The Office of STEM Outreach page has a downloadable list of opportunities both on and off campus where you can practice communicating with the public to hone your speaking skills and learn how to effectively convey your ideas.

Interested in learning how intellectual property works at Stanford? For those students geared towards inventing and entrepreneurship, the Office of Technology Licensing has a handy list of resources regarding Stanford policies and processes. If you are interested in being an entrepreneur, founding a startup, or general creation, have a look at the OTL site to learn how the patenting, marketing, and negotiation procedures work.

The Ombuds is a confidential resource available to all faculty, staff, postdocs, students or other members of the Stanford community. Visitors to the Ombuds office are welcome to discuss any concern that is interfering with their academic or work life. The Ombuds will hear and discuss your concerns, identifying and evaluating options to resolve problems. They can also help you to open avenues of communication and gather more information about your situation. The Ombuds is an informal resource that does not make, change or set aside policies or decisions, but reasons with, persuades and encourages people to act decently and fairly.

Call (650) 497-1542 to contact Brenda Berlin, University Ombuds, or send email to ombuds@stanford.edu.

Volunteering can make a big impact on Stanford and the local community. If you are looking to make positive change around Stanford and in the Bay Area, check out this website, compiled by Cardinal at Work. This resource provides a list of volunteer opportunities both on and off campus. Whether your interests lie with helping others in need, supporting the arts, or improving the environment, this website can help you find a way to give back.