Purpose

The purpose of mentoring in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) is to assist new tenure-track faculty in their first critical years as they attempt to become accomplished scholars and teachers and to provide service to the field of education. Mentoring is not just the responsibility of a formally assigned mentor; indeed it is the responsibility of all faculty within ELPS and the School of Education (SOE).

Our goal is to pair senior faculty who have established themselves as successful researchers and teachers with new faculty members. The senior faculty member, or mentor, can assist new faculty in areas that include: establishing a clear line of inquiry, helping to connect new faculty with other leaders in the new faculty member's field of study, providing insights and perspectives on the tenure and promotion process in the SOE, assisting with the development of effective teaching practices, and/or assisting new faculty as they deal with the myriad of competing priorities that faculty confront.

Selection of Mentors

In consultation with program area chairs in ELPS and faculty within the relevant program areas, the department chair will attempt to pair a new faculty member with a mentor who has expertise in areas related to the new faculty member's area(s) of inquiry and who is familiar with the milieu in which the person will work, teach, and conduct research (school administration, educational policy, and so forth). Sometimes it will not be possible to assign someone from ELPS who has both content and field expertise. In these instances, we will do the best we can.

We recognize that successful mentoring is also a product of a good interpersonal match between the new faculty member and the senior faculty member. We will be attentive to this issue, but it is not always possible to predict successful matches in advance. When it appears that a mentoring relationship has not been successful, the department chair will work with the new faculty member and relevant program area faculty to assign a new mentor.

Procedures

Years I and II: Mentors will encourage multiple contacts between themselves and new faculty members. Mentors will make themselves available to critique paper proposals, manuscripts, and grant proposals. Mentors will also facilitate contacts with faculty within ELPS, as well as faculty in other departments and schools who might have interests in common with new faculty members. Along with the department chair, mentors will assist new faculty in identifying administrative offices that can assist them in seeking out grants and other faculty development programs for new faculty.

Year III: Program chairs, department chairs, and mentors will assist new faculty members in preparing their dossiers for third-year reviews. Mentors will also continue to offer counsel and assistance to new faculty, but by the third year the locus of responsibility to initiate contacts and seek assistance should have shifted more in the direction of the new faulty members.

Year IV and V: Mentors will continue to assist new faculty in areas of research, teaching, and service. Along with the department chair and the relevant program area chair, mentors will also help new faculty interpret the results of their third-year reviews and assist them in understanding and preparing for their tenure and promotion review. 

Status of Mentoring

The SOE and ELPS invest significant amounts of energy and time in the appointment of new faculty members. It is our hope that every appointment will be successful. We want each new faculty member to successfully establish him- or herself as an outstanding scholar and teacher and as a person who provides useful service to the field of education.

Mentoring can be an important part of helping new faculty to achieve these goals. Mentoring activities should be noted on faculty members' annual reports and considered to be valuable contributions on the part of senior faculty members.