Building a Robust Faculty Mentoring Program at CSUEB

BUILDING A ROBUST FACULTY MENTORING PROGRAM

Faculty in Residence: Maria Ortuoste

Description

Inspired and informed by the belief that “implementation of a successful mentoring program is likely to perpetuate and grow the positive effects of mentorship, and mentoring-the-mentor considerations … are likely to enhance overall mentorship” (Bishr Omary, 2008), this Faculty Learning Community brings together faculty, both full-time and part-time, at different stages in their careers, to collaborate on envisioning and creating a sustainable faculty mentoring program in our university. Informal mentoring occurs on campus but given the increasing number of junior faculty, recent retirements, and the university’s emphasis on mentoring our students for success, there is a need for a strong program in professional mentoring.

Purpose

By collaborating across colleges and having faculty with varying levels of experience, we will develop a mentoring program that supports both mentors and mentees in the variety of their faculty roles and across their careers.

Activities

Initial ideas are:

· Research best practices from different university and evaluate them for their relevance to faculty in CSUEB;

· Assess the needs of our colleagues in our respective departments and colleges;

· Identify how mentorship, and being mentored, can be a considered as part of “university service” and, if possible, how that can be considered as part of our workload;

· Engage in dialogue with faculty mentors and mentees as well as with mentors from programs such as GANAS or EOP; and

· Collaborate with other FLCs whose missions overlap with ours.

Outcome:

The main outcome will be the building blocks of university mentoring program which could include, but are not limited to, the following elements:

· Best practices guide for both faculty mentors and mentees;

· A template for mentorship which can be tweaked to reflect departmental and college demands

· Training and support of mentors and support for mentor-mentee pairs

Meetings

The tentative list of meeting dates is below. This list may be revised in our first meeting. Revisions may include fewer longer meetings, zoom meetings, and working meetings when members are performing tasks for the FLC.

· Fri, Oct 26, 12-2 Kick-Off Event

· Fri, Nov 9, 12-2

· Fri, Nov 30, 12-2

· Fri, Dec 7, 12-2

· Fri, Jan 25, 12-2

· Fri, Feb 8, 12-2

· Fri, Mar 1, 12-2

· Fri, Mar 22, 12-2

· Fri, Apr 12, 12-2

· Fri, Apr 19, 12-2

· Fri, May 3, 12-2

· Fri, May 10, 12-2 Year-End Event