Mentoring

Goals of Formal Mentoring Program

The School of Kinesiology is committed to providing mentors for all new faculty members. The foremost goal is to maximize the potential for success of junior faculty as scholars and professionals. Beginning an academic career at the university presents challenges at many levels. These range from becoming familiar with school and university resources to building a productive line of research capable of attracting external funds and securing a national reputation for themselves in their areas of expertise. Mentors can help new faculty members adapt to the School of Kinesiology and the University of Michigan, help them prioritize their efforts during their pre-tenure years, and serve as sources of advice, insightful and honest feedback, and support.

There is no single model for effective mentoring, just as there is no single model for being a successful faculty member. In many ways, mentoring should be a form of learning between senior and junior colleagues. Of course, much is gained from informal mentoring, and those are encouraged. Nonetheless, formalized mentoring relationships help to ensure opportunities for new faculty to receive direct support from more experienced colleagues. A formalized relationship confers a measure of responsibility on senior faculty to assume a proactive role in the academic success of new faculty. Also, a formal relationship reduces any reluctance on the part of new faculty members to seek help or advice from more senior faculty members.

Specific Procedures Adopted by the School of Kinesiology Designed to Assist and Mentor New Faculty

All new faculty members – within their first three years as assistant professors – will be assigned a faculty mentor from within the School of Kinesiology as well as a mentor external to the school. It is expected that junior faculty and mentors will meet regularly to evaluate and discuss progress toward tenure.

Examples of issues that mentors and mentees may wish to explore:

• Understanding the structure and culture of the School of Kinesiology and the University of Michigan; identifying where to find particular resources (e.g., Office of Research and Sponsored

• Projects [formerly DRDA], CRLT, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs [ADFA])

• Setting goals and priorities in terms of effort devoted to teaching, research, and service

• Establishing a productive research laboratory; narrowing or broadening the focus of one’s research efforts

• Familiarizing new faculty with national and international scholarly societies and with appropriate journals in which to publish research

• Familiarizing new faculty with research funding agencies, internal and external to the university, relevant to their work

• Articulating expectations for promotion and tenure; providing formal and informal updates on progress toward tenure

• Facilitating collaborative efforts on campus and beyond

• Ensuring that new faculty make use of available resources to improve teaching

• Providing a sounding board, listening to concerns, helping to gain perspective

• Understanding the complexities of advising graduate students

• Supervising postdoctoral research assistants

Activities that mentors and mentees might pursue include:

• Monthly get-togethers to talk about anything timely

• Mentors could encourage mentees to create one-year and 5-year timelines

• Mentors could provide feedback regarding research planning appropriateness (too ambitious, not ambitious enough), monitor progress along the way, and discuss how to reframe the plan when problems arise

• Mentors could observe mentees teaching and provide feedback (could review teaching evaluations, share their own teaching strategies)

• Mentors could review mentees' grant proposals (or grant reviews)

• Mentors could send information they receive (informally or formally) regarding requests for proposals (RFPs)

• Mentors could introduce mentees to potential collaborators or colleagues on campus who have related interests

• Discuss issues related to time management (creating a balance between professional and personal life)

• Mentors could invite mentees to join them in attending an Office of Research and Sponsored

• Projects (formerly DRDA) workshop or CRLT roundtable

• Mentors could invite mentees to join them in attending a non-academic event on campus (e.g., a concert, a play, an athletic event)

Each new tenure-track faculty member is told to continually accumulate and organize all materials to substantiate his or her tenure package in areas of: (a) research, (b) teaching, and (c) service. This will include course syllabi and CRLT summaries, reprints (categorized as peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed), conference presentations, grant proposals submitted, all presentations created for outside groups, media interviews, letters, emails, etc. from students, and anything else that documents professional activities.

Each faculty member receives an overview package upon joining the school. This consists minimally of this document as well as the most recent university administration documents related to the tenure process and the tenure package (i.e., from the Provost’s Office).

New faculty will be encouraged to attend workshops and seminars designed to prepare faculty for achieving tenure. These are generally sponsored by the Office of the Provost, but attendance at similar events sponsored elsewhere on campus will also be encouraged.

Each faculty member is encouraged to begin to establish contacts with scholars in the field (e.g., through attending and presenting at conferences). This networking should help faculty members build a list of potential outside reviewers for the tenure and promotion application.

A typical trajectory for those on the tenure-track is for significant scholarly productivity to occur within the first five years of their time here, as much of the tenure package is to be completed by the sixth year – the normal tenure application year.