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title: "Self reflection and assessment"
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    output-file: "self-reflection-and-assessment"
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*Thanks to Dr. Allison Shaw and Dr. Lauren Sullivan for developing this practice and document*. 

The questions below will help guide you through our lab’s regular self-reflection and assessment process. The goals of this exercise are (i) to ensure that we are both on the same page for short-term and long-term goals, (ii) to help you practice setting goals and evaluating progress, (iii) to make sure you give yourself credit for your accomplishments and activities, and (iv) discuss ways to improve the lab culture. Please complete this document and email it to me. After this, we will set a time to meet and discuss, then I will send you a written summary of our discussion via email. *Please set aside a couple of hours to complete this reflection process, and send it to me well ahead of our scheduled meeting time so that I can go through all you have written*. 

## Part 1: Goal setting and evaluation

The questions in this first part are meant to help with goal setting and evaluation. The answers in this section will likely be fairly long.

**1. Five-year goals**. [revise annually]

*Date last revised:* __________

Why are you here in the lab (specifically) and doing research (generally)? What do you want to be doing in 5 years? What are your goals for your time here and have they changed from last time? Is your progress on track given these goals?


**2. One-year goals:** [revise annually]

*Date last revised:* __________

What do you expect to accomplish in the next year?

**3. Previous reflection/assessment**  

Paste in the summary that we agreed on after your last self-assessment meeting. (Skip if this is your first time completing the evaluation.)


**4. Activities and accomplishments**

What have you accomplished since your last self-assessment? (Consider each of the activity categories below, or add other categories as relevant. If this is your first time completing the evaluation, describe your accomplishments over the past 4-6 months.) 

- Progress on Projects/Papers [list current status for each, and status at last self-assessment]
- Coursework/workshops
- Teaching/mentoring
- Applications (grants, jobs, etc)
- Presentations/Conferences (talks, posters, other)
- Participation in lab/departmental activities (seminars, etc)
- Equity/inclusion work
- Outreach/Other service
- Anything else you have spent time on towards professional goals?

**5. Reflection on your activities and accomplishments**

Go back to your previous Self Reflection and reread your four-month goals. How do your activities/accomplishments above match your four-month goals from last time? Do your accomplishments here line up with your longer-term goals? What if anything got in the way? (Skip if this is your first time completing the evaluation.)

**6. Four month goals**

A. **Ideally**, what would you like accomplish in the next ~4 months, before the your next self-assessment? Include any activities that weren’t listed above but that you anticipate beginning in the next few months. When relevant, provide estimated soft or hard deadlines for each project (e.g. paper drafts, applications).

B. What is the **minimum** that you expect to have accomplished by your next self-assessment?

C. For the coming four months, are there any particular stressors you are under, or challenges you foresee based on patterns you have noticed in past assessments? If so, what can you do, and what can the lab do, to help support you?

D. What is your funding source for the coming term (e.g., RA, TA, fellowship)? What expectations do you need to fulfill for this funding?

\clearpage

## Part 2

The questions in this second part are meant as a ‘check-up’ of a number of areas where problems can arise. If there are no problems, short answers are ok. If there are areas you would like to work on, discuss or where you would like help, please elaborate.

**1. Challenges**

A. Are there personality issues you struggle with in the lab? Have you experienced any instances of discrimination, microaggressions or harassment? If so, are there things you can do to help alleviate these issues? What can I as the PI do to help?

B. Are there any challenges or problems related to idea ownership or authorship that you currently face?

C. Have you identified someone to whom you would feel comfortable reporting any issues you have with me, or issues within the lab that you don't feel comfortable talking to me about? Ideally this would be a faculty member who is outside your direct power structure (not an advisor, committee member, department head or DGS).


**2. Lab citizenship**

A. Are you respectful of others in the lab (i.e. are you mindful of shared space, do you clean up after yourself)?

B. Do you regularly attend lab meetings? When was the last time you led a lab meeting discussion?

C. Have you re-read the ‘lab expectations’ document within the last 6 months?

**3. Communication**

A. Are you happy with your level of interaction with the PI?

B. Do your at-work hours overlap with those of others so you can both help others and benefit from them? Do you regularly tell others in the lab what you are doing?

C. Are you happy with your level/amount of science discourse (both inside and outside the lab)?

**4. Productivity**
A. What do you do to maintain productivity and focus while you are working?

B. What are the biggest challenges to your efficiency? What are steps you can take to solve these, and what can I do as an advisor to help with productivity?

C.  Do you help others and ask others for help as needed?

**5. Organization**

A. Do you have a record-keeping system in place for each of the following area: research projects (e.g.folders/notebooks/electronic documents for each project), literature (e.g. folders or pdf library) and code (e.g. github or other version control)? Does it work well for you? If not, what could be improved?

B. What methods do you use to track progress? Does it accurately account for your time? Does it reflect your productivity, priorities and goals?

**6. Gain of scientific knowledge and critical thinking**

A. What steps do you take to expand your scientific knowledge? (e.g. reading certain journals, doing literature reviews, attending on-campus seminar series)

B. Are you thinking critically about your research? Do you seek out alternative methodological approaches (e.g. by searching the literature or talking to others)?

**7. Bigger picture and broad goals**

A. What are some things you would like to change or work on changing with your own work style? What steps will you take in the coming months to accomplish these goals? What can the PI, the lab, or others in the department do to help you with your goals?

B. What is one (or a couple) of things you would change about the lab (including supervisory style)?

C. Have you filled out an IDP? If so, have you reviewed it within the past 6 months?

**8. Is there anything else not covered by the above questions that you would like to share with me?**

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Sources for the above content:

- At the Helm: Leading Your Laboratory, Second Edition (Kathy Barker)
    
- https://sociobiology.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/what-are-your-goals-for-fall/

