Utah Tech University

Mentoring New Faculty Members

As a mentor, you are a guide for success. You have the opportunity to help a mentee develop their skill set, help them learn from mistakes, and recognize and share in the goals they successfully meet.

 

Mentoring Checklist
Tips
Help

The benefits of mentoring

  • Free Lunch provided at the New Faculty/Mentor Luncheon – This event is sponsored by the Faculty Senate, and is used to introduce mentees to the Provost, New Faculty Seminar Committee, and Faculty Affairs. An overview of the onboarding process and resources for mentoring are discussed at this lunch.
  • Strengthen New Faculty – Faculty who have support will be more successful and provide better support to students.
  • Recognition – Mentoring offers an opportunity for the recognition of your own expertise, including sharing your competencies across cohorts.
  • Self-Growth – Through being a mentor, you will learning from your peers and mentee’s experiences, be inspired by bright and creative new faculty, improve your managerial skills, and have opportunities for reflection and renewal of your own teaching and research.

Mentors should remember that:

  • New faculty members may not have extensive teaching experience and may not be well informed about effective evidence-based methods.
  • New faculty will need to obtain: a) their teaching assignments, b) order textbooks for their classes, c) access to Canvas, and d) develop syllabi for their courses.
  • New faculty may need assistance in learning how to utilize Canvas most effectively and would greatly benefit by being able to walk through creating their Canvas courses.
  • New faculty are likely to be relatively uninformed about the university and its unique features.
  • New faculty may not have experience working with students who are from an “open enrollment” background.

Mentor’s checklist

  • Maintain periodic contact (at least twice via email or phone) with the new faculty mentor between July 15th and Welcome Week to check in and identify new faculty member needs
  • Ensure that the new faculty member can coordinate with the Department Chair and Administrative Assistant to obtain copies of the textbooks used in each assigned course
  • Invite the new faculty member to observe your class during the first semester and to discuss teaching methodologies and other questions
  • Meet with your mentee at least twice during their first semester

Below is a sample checklist that may be helpful to organize your mentoring activities.

Master Checklist

Image Source: Faculty Focus

Tips for mentors

  • Define the length of the mentoring relationship, the method of meetings (in-person or virtual), and the schedule of meetings. Keep notes at meetings about next task(s) and deadline(s) agreed upon
  • Clarify expectations about the extent of your guidance and if you are not comfortable assisting in some areas, suggest another faculty member
  • Provide specific information about informal rules of the profession and navigating the department and institution
  • Help mentees learn what kinds of institutional support they should seek to further their own career development, for instance tell them about funds to attend conference and workshops
  • Recognize that your experience is relevant for junior colleagues – hearing accounts on how you achieved something (or failed to) can contextualize experiences for them
  • Provide opportunities- e.g., Suggest mentee’s name to be a discussant at a national conference or other events to increase visibility.
  • Ask your mentee to develop and share a work plan that includes short and long-term goals as well as a time frame for reaching them.
  • Be available for unstructured conversations and be sure to discuss issues that have arisen for your mentee such as: a problem in the classroom, a question about article submission or a concern about department dynamics. Hold your conversations in strict confidence.
  • Explore the campus with your mentee – a sense of place is important when entering a new community and introduce your mentee. An easy way to accomplish this is to attend campus events together, such as informal activities,  lunches, CTL events, and academic conferences, etc.
  • Guide your mentee through early attempts at teaching, scholarship, and service – e.g., sit in mentee’s classes and discuss observations
  • Offer to review articles or grant proposals and/or ask to be assigned to a committee together
  • Talk about what is happening with assigned committee work
  • Don’t underestimate your knowledge about the academic system, organization and network scope
  • Where appropriate, “talk up” your new faculty accomplishments to others in your department/institution or at conferences and other meetings
  • Make sure that any accomplishments by the mentee are recognized in their department

How can we help you?

Because your role is so important as a part of mentoring at UT, the Office of Faculty Affairs and the New Faculty Seminar Committee are deeply interested in your success. Please contact Dr. Bruce Harris, Associate Provost for the Office of Faculty Affairs, at 435-879-4638 for support or help with mentoring.

References:

Johnson, B. W. (2015). On Being a Mentor: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty (2nd Edition). Routledge.

Phillips, S. L., Dennison, S. T., & Cox, M. D. (2015). Faculty Mentoring: A Practical Manual for Mentors, Mentees, Administrators, and Faculty Developers. Stylus Publishing.

Stone, T. (2018). A Pocket Guide to Mentoring Higher Education Faculty: Making the Time, Finding the Resources. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

A copy of all the books above can be accessed through the office of Faculty Affairs. To borrow a copy, contact Tralei Casaus at tralei.casaus@utahtech.edu or through phone at 435-879-4508.