Faculty & Mentor Connect Standard

GeNext MedEd Foundation — Faculty & Mentor Connect Standard

Status: institutional working standard

Purpose
Create a verified human academic network connecting professional identity and expertise to teaching roles, mentorship availability, programme assignments, research mentorship, academic review and a durable contribution history.

Core principle
Verify the person; define the role; record the contribution.

A verified faculty profile is not blanket certification of every skill. Academic roles arise from specific programme, project, institution, event, community or review assignments.

Faculty pathway
Verified professional identity → expertise profile → academic roles → mentorship availability → matching/engagement → programme/research contribution → feedback/review → contribution history.

Profile layers
Verified professional information
Identity; qualifications; professional registration where relevant; specialty; current institutional affiliation(s); other fields that have passed the defined verification process.

Declared expertise and interests
Focused clinical/academic domains; teaching interests; research/methodology interests; learner levels; mentorship areas; languages; teaching formats. These should be distinguishable from independently verified credentials.

Assigned roles
Programme faculty; clinical mentor; workshop instructor; research mentor/investigator; methodology advisor; reviewer; examiner/assessor; academic-community or committee role; event academic role; resource curator/reviewer. Each role has source, scope and dates/status.

Verified contribution history
Completed academic contributions derived from actual programme/project/event/resource records.

Mentor Connect
Mentorship types may include longitudinal learner mentorship, focused clinical/academic mentorship, fellowship mentorship, research mentorship, writing/publication mentorship, conference/abstract mentorship and appropriately scoped peer/near-peer mentorship.

Minimum mentorship record
Mentorship ID/status; mentee; mentor; context; type; objectives; scope/boundaries; duration; communication rhythm; milestones/reviews; conflicts/disclosures where relevant; closure/outcome.

Matching factors
Objective; specialty/domain; mentorship type; learner/training stage; mentor expertise; declared availability; institution/programme context; time commitment; conflicts; communication mode; duration/end point.

Assignment workflow
Need defined → expertise match → role invitation → acceptance → contribution → activity verification → contribution-history update.

Role acceptance should make responsibilities, duration, boundaries and relevant conflicts visible. Faculty should be able to decline or limit availability.

Research mentorship
Faculty profiles can expose research interests and methodology expertise to Research Connect. A research mentorship/project role is recorded within the project and follows the project's governance, contribution and authorship standards. Mentorship alone does not guarantee authorship.

Programme integration
Fellowships, workshops and courses can assign programme director, academic lead, coordinator, faculty, mentor, assessor and reviewer roles. Contribution records derive from the controlled programme/cohort record rather than self-entered claims alone.

Conference integration
Conference roles can include invited faculty, session chair/moderator, instructor, reviewer, abstract mentor or other academic role. The event's authority and programme record remain the source of verification.

Academic communities
Faculty may participate in specialty or cross-cutting academic communities such as Research Connect groups. Community leadership/service is recorded with remit and period; community membership does not create regulatory authority.

Contribution-history categories
Teaching; workshop instruction; fellowship mentorship; research mentorship/project role; conference academic role; academic-resource contribution; assessment/examiner role; peer/academic review; committee/community service; programme leadership; publications/scholarly outputs; faculty-development participation.

Feedback and quality
Feedback supports development and programme quality. It should not be reduced to a public popularity marketplace. Private learner/reviewer feedback remains appropriately controlled. Any public indicators should be evidence-led and contextual rather than simplistic star ratings.

Privacy and boundaries
- Protect private learner/mentee discussions and feedback.
- Do not publicly expose confidential review comments or research information.
- Mentorship does not create a doctor-patient relationship or employment relationship.
- Profile verification does not itself confer clinical privileges.
- Institutional affiliations and roles should show current/historical status accurately.
- Conflicts of interest should be disclosed where relevant to an assignment.

Digital Faculty & Mentor Connect
GeNext Connect can progressively support verified profiles, expertise taxonomy, availability settings, mentor discovery, role invitations, mentorship workspaces, programme assignments, research-project roles, review milestones, notifications and contribution history.

Relationship to other Foundation layers
- Fellowships: programme faculty, mentors, assessors and longitudinal contribution records.
- Workshops/Courses: instructors and skills faculty.
- Conferences: academic faculty and reviewer roles.
- Research Connect: research mentors, investigators and methodology expertise.
- Institution Connect: verified affiliations and institutional roles.
- Academic Resource Library: faculty-authored/reviewed resources.
- Journey & Archive: durable academic contribution history.

Continuity
A faculty member's historical contribution remains linked to the activity even if their current institution, role or availability changes. Current status and historical attribution should be distinguishable.