Best Practices in Building Successful Multimodal Faculty Mentoring Programs: Hits, Misses, Best Intentions, and Practical Fixes.

Panel Submission Type: Panel/Research Presentation Session

Abstract

The current challenges to recruitment and retention of faculty have led to a renewed interest in and analysis of existing mentoring programs at the department, college, and university levels. While research shows that structured and formalized mentoring programs work best, there’s vast differences in approaches academic units take. And there’s ample research showing that many of the best intentions of mentoring programs fall well short in achieving the goals they seek to address, especially when aimed at the retention of faculty of color. This panel explores a tri-modal approach to successful faculty mentoring focusing on the importance of 1-1 mentors, interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary mentorship, and formalized college/university level mentoring programs. Panelists report first-hand experiences with these different approaches in a candid discussion of what works, what doesn’t, and why a one-size-fits-all model falls short.

Sub Unit

• Curriculum, Assessment & Administration

Cosponsors

• BEA

• Gender & Sexuality

Moderator

• Cynthia A. Cooper, Towson University

Papers

• It’s not about coffee chats anymore: Adoption of a Multi-modal Approach to College-level Faculty Mentoring and Retention - Cynthia A. Cooper, Towson University

• Get Personal: A Strengths Approach to Faculty Development - Judy Oskam, Texas State University

• What the *(#!# Does Journalism Have to Do With Applied Sciences? Successful Mentoring Across Disciplinary Boundaries - Kathleen Ryan, University of Colorado Boulder

• Gaining Insight and Expertise from Mentors Outside of Your Discipline: My Experience Participating in a Pilot Mentoring Program at the University of Colorado - Rachel Knapp, University of Colorado Boulder