UC's Orientation / Mentoring Program for New Faculty
For many new faculty, their UC experience begins with an Orientation program about a week before classes begin in the autumn quarter. (Just follow this link to pull up the materials that were distributed to new faculty at the September 2007 Orientation.)
In a few UC colleges, there are also follow-up opportunities, through the mentoring program, for extending the experience of Orientation. New faculty and experienced faculty both begin a two-way learning relationship through mentoring. As Kristi Nelson, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning, notes, new faculty could ask their mentor to come to a class session to provide feedback without worrying about being professionally evaluated, they could get advice on where to get published, or they could find out about protocols at the university. Experienced faculty, in turn, get the opportunity to learn from the talent and expertise brought to UC by the new faculty members.
Sponsored by the Provost Office, the Mentoring Program has four primary goals:
- to provide support for new faculty when they first arrive at the University,
- to develop the teaching and research potential of new faculty more fully,
- to connect experienced faculty with new faculty, and
- to provide opportunities for mentors to develop skills and sensitivity in interacting with faculty.
College coordinators serve to identify the new faculty who should be placed in the Mentoring Program and also to make the mentoring assignments. Ideally, each new faculty member should be assigned two mentors, one in that person’s home department and the other in a different (although perhaps related) department. In the case of the “outside” mentor, an assignment might cross college lines.
Funding from the Provost Office for this program helps to support occasional workshops for mentors and their mentees as well as more individualized activities such as restaurant meetings or tickets to cultural events. Ideally, mentors will meet with their mentees at least once per month.
The Mentoring Program is coordinated by Wayne Hall, Vice Provost for Faculty Development, and is closely affiliated with projects and resources of the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning (CET&L) – www.uc.edu/cetl
Print-Friendly version
|
