Mentoring Academic-Research Careers (MARC)

Get on the MARC. Take aim of your career in higher ed! Join ASHA's newest online mentoring program—Mentoring for Academic-Research Careers and experience the power of passionate mentoring.

The MARC program is designed specifically for PhD students, junior faculty, and postdoctoral scholars. It was developed as part of the ASHA Focused Initiative on the PhD Shortage in Higher Education. Surveys and focus groups conducted in 2005 revealed the need for and interest in a mentoring program that keeps PhD students and junior faculty on target to achieve and sustain a rewarding career in academia. Thinking about enrolling as a mentee or mentor in the MARC Program? Get answers through our Frequently Asked Questions.

 MARC News and Resources

• 2008 AARC and SPARC Awards Now Available
• 2008 Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Awards Now Available
  ASHA is pleased to announce the 2008 Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Award Program, given in conjunction with the 18th Annual Research Symposium: Neurobiological Determinants of Human Communication: Prematurity and Early Childhood, to be held November 21, 2008, in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, please contact Jessica Bowen Nunez at jbowen@asha.org. 
• Tomorrow's Professor Listserv
  Postings twice weekly to foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology. Topics include the academy, graduate students, academic careers, teaching and learning, and research. Sponsored by the Stanford University Center for Teaching & Learning. Available by free e-mail subscription.
• HES and EDFIND Have Been Launched
  The Higher Education Data System (HES) system is a collaborative effort of ASHA, CAPCSD, and CAA to facilitate comprehensive and consistent data collection and dissemination. Survey completion is critical to ensure all programs are reflected in reports and trends analysis in CSD. Program data and characteristics submitted via the HES will appear in EdFind, the new online search engine for academic programs. EDFIND replaces ASHA's online Grad Guide and allows students and others to search for and learn about academic programs in CSD. For more information, please contact us at hes@asha.org. 
• Study Reveals Reasons for Women's Departure from the Sciences
  Study of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research staff appearing in the November 2007 issue of the EMBO Reports, part of the Nature family of publications.
• ASHA is pleased to announce the approval of its newest policy document, Guidelines for the Responsible Conduct of Research: Ethics and the Publication Process.
• Entering Mentoring: A Seminar to Train a New Generation of Scientists [PDF]
  A Resource from the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
• Check out the Faculty, Researchers and PhD Students Web site and be sure to subscribe to Access Academics & Research bimonthly e-newsletter.
• Resource for Scholarly Writing: Free online monthly newsletter, Flourish, for scholarly writers, edited by author Wendy Belcher. Flourish encourages and connects graduate students, faculty, and independent scholarly writers in the social sciences and humanities.
• Visit the National Postdoctoral Association, a national association dedicated to providing resources and advocating for postdoctoral scholars.
• Check out Special Interest Division 10: Issues in Higher Education as another great source to help you in your academic career.
• Learn about Special Interest Division 11: Administration and Supervision, their educational activities, networking opportunities, and research initiatives.
• Mentoring 101. Read the discussion from The ASHA Gathering Place live forum event. Mentors and mentees shared their experiences, helped answer questions about readiness to be a mentor, and offered some advice based on lessons learned. Guest experts were experienced mentors Raymond Kent and Carey Payne and former mentees Yasmeen Shah and Timberly Wannamaker.
• Tenure Achievement Rates at Research Universities [PDF]—Findings of a Pennsylvania State University study indicating that only 53% of new faculty earn tenure by the 7th year. The report's conclusions indicate that mentoring new faculty can be beneficial.
• Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty—Chapter 5, Mentoring and Being Mentored. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute resource on mentoring.

• Receive information about current research issues and events through the Research Electronic Newsletter. It disseminates news about upcoming conferences, available funding sources, science in the media, post-doctoral fellowships...and much more!

• Participate in ASHA's Member Forums.