Faculty mentoring faculty program [College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences Faculty - California Polytechnic State University]

Presented at the 7th Biennial Conference on University Education in Natural Resources, March 13-15, 2008, Corvallis, Oregon.Getting through the tenure process can be extremely difficult. It is often difficult to know the right questions to ask or even to whom the questions should be addressed. In 2004, the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences at California Polytechnic State University started a faculty mentoring program. The vast majority of positions at Cal Poly are 100% teaching appointments, so much of the tenure process is based on teaching. In this program, non-tenured faculty members are paired with more senior tenured faculty. The mentoring program is completely separate from the tenure and promotion process. In fact, non-tenured faculty mentees are encouraged to be paired with a senior faculty member who is not involved in their tenure review. In this way, the mentee is freer to ask questions and explore options, without feeling pressure to follow through with all options. The program has been active for three years now and continues to be a strong program. Both mentees (non-tenured faculty) and mentors (tenured faculty) state that they have benefited from the program. Several mentees have stated that the program helped them get more quickly connected to the university, helped feel a sense of “fitting in” and helped them learn university procedures. Mentors stated that they benefited because it allowed them to get to know the non-tenured faculty and it helped them to remember what it is like to go through the tenure process. At Cal Poly, the requirements for tenure have been shifting over the last decade or so. Since mentors are often on tenure review committees, it gives them a better sense of what is now required for receiving tenure. Overall the mentoring program has been a success