When I began teaching as a tenure track, assistant professor, I quickly realized I needed guidance and support when it came to pursuing scholarship, deciding which committees to serve on, and teaching in a new context. At the same time, I also discovered that the faculty around me, across the hall and in departmental and university meetings were open and willing to answer my questions, suggest collaborations, and give me the scoop on which committees to serve on. Though I had an assigned mentor who also supported me, it was the informal listening, solution-seeking, and friendship that helped create a strong sense of belonging, a commitment to persistence, and a collegial environment that I had not anticipated. In addition to being a friendly presence, mentors typically have valuable institutional knowledge about expectations, resources, opportunities, rules, and procedures and can share them in a conversational and invitational way.
If you’re interested in building a culture of mentorship in your program or school, check out the suggestions below:
Active Listening
While listening to new faculty members’ concerns and questions, try to pinpoint where you may be able to assist. Consider the resources and support available that new faculty may not know about and connect them to those who can guide them to an effective solution.
Internal Networking
As you learn about new faculty members’ research interests and collaborative goals, connect them with colleagues who have shared interests, who know the state and regional conference cycle, and who can invite them into the organizations that sustain and accelerate professional growth. Similarly, sharing a lunch, a coffee, or a walk around USC Upstate’s beautiful campus to just chat about life builds trusting relationships and friendships that sustain faculty through the academic year and beyond.
Championing Students
Informal mentors can also offer new faculty or early career faculty insights into students’ needs and interests and share effective strategies for increasing student engagement and creating supportive, thriving learning environments. Mentors can also point faculty toward the selection of student support services on campus, including counseling, tutoring, and opportunities to participate in other aspects of student life.
Committing to Professional Development
While many new faculty come to higher education with advanced degrees, few have formal or informal training in 21st century pedagogies. USC Upstate offers many face to face, online, internal, and external opportunities to support faculty in developing the strategies and skills necessary to engage their students in meaningful and authentic learning. Encourage them to pursue rewarding professional development you’ve completed and to keep an eye on the CAIFS calendar and any opportunities announced by Academic Affairs.
Vision-sharing
When advanced and tenured faculty engage new colleagues in conversations about the institution’s values – like belonging, civic and community engagement, and economic mobility – they can help socialize new faculty into deeper, mission-driven teaching practices. Vision-sharing also cultivates mutual learning, self- and collective-reflection, and pedagogical innovation. Ultimately, vision-sharing animates the institution’s mission and helps new faculty see the role they can play in helping achieve that mission.
Creating a culture of mentorship in higher education goes beyond the formal assignment of mentors for new faculty, though that is also a crucial aspect of the faculty-development pipeline. When veteran faculty informally engage in active listening, foster internal networks, champion students, pursue professional growth, and share their vision with their early-career peers, they help cultivate the kind of environment that enables both new and seasoned faculty to thrive. These five characteristics of informal mentorship not only strengthen individual careers, but also reinforce the collective mission to create sustainable, student-centered learning spaces.