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The Future Faculty Program
Mentors
- Preparing Future Faculty
How does the Future Faculty Program Prepare Future Faculty?
The Future Faculty Program at the University of Louisville is designed for Ph.D and Ed.D students who are interested in careers in higher education. This program helps participants to learn more about faculty life and the range of responsibilities in teaching, research and service. The program offers seminars on topics such as writing for publication, grant writing, tenure and promotion and landing a position in higher education. Participants are also required to take a three-credit course on college teaching and to develop a professional portfolio. A final feature of the program is mentoring. Participants are required to work with a faculty mentor for two semesters. This section offers mentoring tips for faculty who are willing to mentor a participant in the Future Faculty Program.
What is mentoring?
The concept of mentoring has been defined in a number of ways. For example, Zelditch (1990) has described mentors as "…supporters, people who give emotional and moral encouragement; tutors, people who give specific feedback on one's performance;…sponsors, sources of information about, and aid in obtaining opportunities; models of identity, of the kind of person one should be to be an academic". White (1988) has described mentorship as "an educational relationship in an organization that enhances an individual's career development". St. Clair (1994) has described a mentor as "an experienced person who provides the mentee (a less experienced person) with support, encouragement, and knowledge". In all of these conceptualizations, the notions of support, encouragement, and knowledge-sharing are evident.
Those who serve as mentors in the Future Faculty Program, to some degree, play all of these roles. Because of the diversity of the mentoring relationships established between individual pairs of mentors and mentees, the precise nature of the roles played will necessarily vary. The following items are offered as general tips that may be helpful as you embark upon the mentoring process.
Tips for establishing a mentoring relationship
- Set specific goals that will shape the mentoring relationship. Each participant in the program has been asked to identify general areas with which they would like to work with their mentor. These may include areas such as the following:
- Teaching-Mentees may be interested in refining their skills with respect to a particular aspect of teaching in higher education. For example, they may desire to learn more about using technological applications in instruction, or more about successfully teaching large classes.
- Research/Publication-Mentees may desire to learn more about the research and publication process. They may also be interested in refining their grant-writing skills, or polishing their skills in making professional research presentations.
- Networking/Professional Advancement-Mentees may be interested in enhancing their network of external contacts that may be helpful in career advancement. Mentees also may desire to learn more about the culture of their profession.
- Other-Mentees may desire to focus on something very different from any of the above, or may choose to focus on some combination from above. The important aspect is that some mutually agreeable area is collaboratively selected by mentees and mentors.
- Establish mutually agreeable times/places to meet. Mentees have been asked to meet with their mentors at least once per month. Initially, it may be better if mentors take the lead in proposing meeting times, since mentees may be reluctant to take on this role.
- Be prepared to address diverse student needs. Participants in the Future Faculty Program represent a diverse group of students, including international students, non-traditional students, students with disabilities, as well as students who vary with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the mentoring relationship, it is important to keep the following points in mind:
- Be reminded that you can serve as an excellent mentor for a student who is of a different race, gender, or culture. In many instances, this diversity enriches the mentoring relationship.
- It is not productive to make assumptions about a student based on superficial characteristics. Recognize that all members of a group do not share the same perspectives, experiences, or needs. Many factors, such as geographic origin, socio-economic background, and individual differences play important roles in shaping attitudes and behaviors.
- Some non-native speakers of English may have difficulty conversing by email, since they may rely heavily on voice intonation, facial expressions, or other gestures to derive nuances in meaning. If you discern these difficulties, you may want to use alternate communication formats.
- Be aware that all students do not share the same access to academic networks. This may be an important point to consider when selecting goals for the mentoring relationship.
- If you are working with a student who has a disability, it's alright to ask if any special assistance or materials are required to meet the goals of the mentoring relationship. Be prepared to connect these students with other resources on campus, such as the Disabilities Resource Center, that may be able to provide support.
- Some students may have family responsibilities that must be considered in scheduling and other aspects of the mentoring relationship.
- Students who have been out of school for a while may fear that their skills are "rusty" or be apprehensive about competing with younger counterparts. These students may need extra reassurance. (Adapted from the Faculty Mentoring Handbook, University of Michigan)
- Contact the Program Director, as needed. Don't hesitate to contact Murphy Shields, the Future Faculty Program Coordinator, if any assistance is needed. If additional resources regarding mentoring are desired, or if a special resource is required to fulfill the goals of the mentoring relationship, the Program Director may be able to help. Likewise, if changing commitments prevent you from continuing your mentoring relationship, or if the mentoring relationship is no longer mutually fulfilling, appropriate changes can be made. Murphy Shields, a staff member in the Office of Research in the College of Education, can be reached at 852-3069 or murphy.shields@louisville.edu. You can also submit an application to be a part of the Future Faculty Program. Download the PDF version or the Word version now.
Now accepting applications for the 2008-2009 Future Faculty Program. Starting August 1, 2008, applications will be reviewed and participants will be notified of acceptance into the program by August 15. Applications submitted after August 1 may be considered if there are vacancies in the program.
References
Faculty Mentoring Handbook, University of Michigan.
Longhurst, M.F. (1994). The mentoring experience. Medical Teacher, 16(1), 53-59.
St. Clair, K.L. (1994). Faculty-to-faculty mentoring in the community college: An instructional component of faculty development. Community College Review, 22(3), 23-36.
White, K. (1988). The task of medicine: Dialogue at Wickenberg (Meanly Park, CA, Henry Kaiser Family Foundation).
Websites on mentoring
http://academicaffairs.ucsd.edu/faculty/programs/fmp/default.htm
http://fc.byu.edu/jpages/nufac/fds/fds.htm#6
http://www.provost.iastate.edu/faculty/newfaculty/MentoringBrochureWeb.doc
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