Framework for the Mentoring of New Faculty Members

Background

A mentoring program provides new faculty members with an experienced and well respected mentor to guide and assist them through the early years of academe.

The Venter Task Force established by Dean G. W. Heinke in January l993 recommended that Chairs identify or seek volunteers to assume the position of departmental counsellor with whom new faculty could consult to discuss views and options or indeed seek advice. The Committee on Community Affairs and Gender Issues considers it important to implement this recommendation through the introduction of a mentoring program. This program is modelled after the mentoring framework within the Faculty of Arts and Science and the MIT brochure for incoming women faculty. The Association of American Colleges recently analyzed the benefits of mentoring, and these have been extracted and modified as follows:

Benefits for the new faculty member

• individual recognition and encouragement
• constructive criticism and informal feedback
• advice on balancing teaching, research, committee work and other responsibilities
• insights into the informal and formal culture of the Department and Faculty
• knowledge of the informal and formal rules for advancement
• advice on scholarship/teaching
• reduction of stress (psychosocial support)

Benefits for the mentor

• satisfaction in assisting in the development of another person
• a network of colleagues who have passed through the program
• ideas for and feedback about the mentor's own teaching/scholarship
• recognition by the Department and the Faculty of this important contribution.

Benefits for the institution

• increased commitment, productivity and satisfaction of new faculty
• prevention of attrition of new faculty
• encouragement of co-operation and cohesiveness for those involved in the program.

THE MENTORING PROGRAM

The mentoring program provides new faculty members with experienced and well respected mentors to guide and assist them through the early years of academe. All aspects of the program essentially exist to assist the new faculty member. As such, it is important that the new faculty member understand that the role of the mentor is to provide advice and direction as requested; all responsibility is still maintained by the new faculty member. The program will provide the new faculty member with information; and will ensure that the faculty member receives the appropriate University/Faculty and departmental documents pertaining to being a faculty member (e.g., orientation guide, Faculty Information guide, calendars, graduate/undergraduate brochures, etc.). Both mentors and new faculty member should take an active role in developing the mentoring relationship which extends over a four year period. An annual orientation will take place for Chairs, mentors and new faculty members.

Role of the Chair

• to identify two mentors for a new faculty member as soon as the offer of appointment is accepted - one mentor being resident in the home Department of the new faculty member and the second mentor being from a cognate Department within the Faculty. Mentoring will continue for four years from the date of the initial appointment to span through to the three year review of the new faculty member plus one additional year. Full and/or Associate Professors can be named as mentors by the Chairs or voluntarily offer their services to the Chair as a mentor.
• to recognize and promote the value of the mentorship within their respective units.
• to ensure that the appropriate University documents are sent to new faculty members.

Role of the Mentors

• Departmental mentor contacts the new faculty member in advance of their arrival
• Departmental mentor introduces the new faculty member to the mentor in the cognate Department
• Advise the new faculty member in aspects of teaching, research and administrative work.
• Promote interaction between the new faculty member with other faculty; the mentors must not be viewed by the new faculty member as their only source of advice and guidance.
• Attend an orientation session for mentors and new faculty members to discuss expectations of the mentor-mentee relationship
• Treat all dealings and discussions in confidence. There is no requirement to report to the administration. There is no evaluation or assessment of the new faculty member, only supportive guidance and constructive criticism

1. Review of the Mentorship Program

   The Mentorship program will be reviewed each year by the Office of the Dean in consultation with Chairs, Mentors and new Faculty Members.

2. Changing Mentors

   The correct selection of mentors is an essential ingredient for the success of this mentoring program. It may be necessary on occasion to change mentors due to changing commitments of the mentors, research leaves or even possible conflicts, etc. Chairs should be approached by either the mentor or mentee should a change in mentor be necessary. However to facilitate the changing of a mentor, which might on occasion be a sensitive matter, it is recommended that the mentor and or new faculty member can seek advice from an independent Senior Mentor, not in direct line of academic responsibility, and appointed by the Dean. Changing of the mentors should be considered if the mentor is clearly and consistently disinterested in the program, discourages or undervalues the new faculty member's abilities, or simply appears to be incompatible. The Senior Mentor will formally request a change of mentor to the Chair of the Department as is necessary.

3. Qualities of a Good Mentor

   The following guide has been modified from the Arts and Science Program and the MIT brochure for incoming women faculty:

   • Availability - the mentor must be available to the new faculty member, must keep in contact and be willing to spend time reading proposals and papers, and reviewing the new faculty member's progress.
   • Networking - the mentor should be in a position to help establish a professional network for the new faculty member.
   • Support - the mentor should be willing to advise the new faculty member on graduate student supervision, student support and the related infrastructure needs.
   • The mentor should treat all dealings and discussions in confidence, providing supportive guidance and constructive criticism.

4. Questions/issues that could be addressed by the mentee and the mentor
   • How is the department/Faculty organized? How are decisions made? What infrastructure is available to the new faculty?
   • What is the normal teaching load for a new faculty?
   • What should the professional profile be after three years?
   • What criteria are used for teaching/research excellence, how is teaching/research evaluated, and what is a teaching/research dossier?
   • How does one obtain feedback concerning teaching?
   • What resources are available for teaching development?
   • How does one recruit good graduate students? What scholarships are available? What should one expect from graduate students? What is required in a graduate program?
   • How to best supervise graduate students.
   • What should graduate students expect of their supervisor?
   • What teaching assistantships are available? What resources are available for TA training?
   • What are the health and safety policies with respect to running a laboratory?
   • How does one maintain security in exams, tips on setting a good exam paper, and proper invigilating?
   • What are petitions/academic offences and how should they be handled?
   • What committees should one serve on and how much committee work should one expect?
   • How does the three year review proceed and how is tenure achieved?
   • Will there be performance feedback from the Chair? If so how often and what is the nature of this feedback?
   • How does one establish an appropriate balance between teaching and research?
   • How does one establish an appropriate balance between academe and life outside the University?
   • What funds are available from the department/faculty? Start-up funds, graduate scholarships, travel/conference, small equipment funds, etc.
   • How does a new faculty member secure industrial funding?

   These questions/issues extend over a broad range of expertise and advice may be sought from outside the Faculty.

5. Three year Review and Tenure Considerations

   An essential ingredient of the Mentoring Program is the supportive guidance, and constructive criticism without the requirement to report to the administration. It is noted however, that current policy on tenure deliberations requires that the candidate must be given the opportunity to approve the membership of the tenure committee. It is therefore recommended that letters of assessment for both the three year review as well as the case for tenure can be sought from the mentor of the new faculty member only with the approval of the new faculty member. While this approach is consistent with the current guidelines on tenure, mentors would not normally be required to contribute to the assessment process.

6. Publications on Mentoring:

   Mentoring: Contemporary Principles and Issues, Bey and Holmes, Association of Teacher Educators, Reston, Virginia, l992

   Mentoring Means Future Scientists, Association for Women in Science (AWIS), Washington, D.C., l993

   Information Brochure for Incoming Women Faculty, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

   The Department Chairperson's Role in Enhancing College Teaching, A.F. Lucas, Jossey-Bass, Publisher, San Francisco, l989.

   Faculty of Arts and Science Mentoring Program for New Faculty Members, l994. Guidelines on Mentoring Frameworks, Dr. R. Abramovitch, l996.

   "A Ph. D. is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science", P. J. Feibelman, Addison Wesley, 1993.