Responsibilities of Mentees
Mentees are responsible for the following:
I. Interaction with Mentor and Department Chair
Select a mentor from your or related department in consultation with the department chair
Meet regularly with the mentor and with the department chair
Ask the mentor for guidance and assistance whenever needed and listen with an open mind
Maintain confidentiality of your discussions with your mentor
Let the department chair know when a mentoring relationship needs to be modified
Prepare together with your mentor an annual mentoring report of the annual mentoring activities provided to you by your mentor, and submit it to the department chair.
II. Policies and Procedures
Responsibilities of Mentors
Mentors are mainly responsible for providing developmental mentoring consisting of support, information, advice, and feedback to the mentee but not official evaluation. The short-term and long-term goals of their mentoring relationships with their mentees include the following:
I. Short-Term Goals
Take the initiative for contacting your mentees and stay in touch with them
Clarify mutual expectations about the frequency of contact and your accessibility; devote time to the relationship and be available when requested, yet be clear about how much time and guidance you can offer and in which areas you can support the mentee
Direct the mentee to available resources at institutional, Faculty, and departmental levels
Assist the mentee in networking and introduction to colleagues
Help the mentee develop awareness and understanding of relevant policies and procedures and of the "system" such as AUB's policies for promotion and tenure, and what they must accomplish in a specific period to advance academically
Help the mentee develop understanding of and integrate within the departmental culture
Help the mentee sort out priorities for balancing research, teaching, and service and set clear objectives
Provide developmental mentoring in research, teaching, and service by sharing your knowledge and experience. A detailed list of possible topics of mentoring is provided in Appendix 1.
On research, be available to review grant proposals and manuscripts, provide advice about extramural funding sources and journals to target for paper submission, point out potential collaborations, help the faculty member define relevant areas of research and build and sustain a leading research program, etc.
On teaching, give advice on the teaching of existing courses and the development of new courses and on various aspects of teaching (grading, dealing with students, etc.). Direct the faculty member towards existing resources on campus for teaching excellence and volunteer to observe the faculty member teaching.
On service, provide advice about the amount and type of service to do.
Assist the mentee with his/her various questions and needs and provide advice on how to deal with difficulties (staff support, access to students, etc.)
Maintain confidentiality of your discussions with your mentees
Let the department chair know when a mentoring relationship needs to be changed
For each of your mentees, prepare jointly with your mentee an annual report that describes the mentoring activities provided in that year, to be submitted to the department Chair
II. Long-Term Goals
Provide the mentee with constructive criticism and feedback on progress towards promotion (without evaluating the mentee, which is left to the department chair)
Provide guidance on how to achieve career advancement and develop visibility and prominence within the profession
Encourage professional independence
Be an advocate for your mentee: argue in support of the mentee for funds, students, space, etc.