GUIDELINES FOR THE MENTORING PROGRAM OF JUNIOR FACULTY
1. Objective
This program's objective is to establish a rigorous mentoring framework to guide and support junior faculty in building long and productive careers at the university.
2. Responsibilities of Mentors and Mentees
Mentoring works best when both mentor and mentee take an active role. Mentees are expected to clarify their goals, come prepared to meetings, seek feedback, and follow through on agreed next steps. They should engage regularly with their mentor, use the relationship to understand departmental expectations and timelines, and communicate early if the pairing or process isn’t meeting their needs.
Mentors are expected to provide supportive, constructive guidance rather than evaluation. This includes meeting consistently, helping mentees set priorities across teaching, research, and service, offering feedback on professional plans and work products when appropriate, and connecting mentees to relevant resources, opportunities, and networks. Both parties should maintain confidentiality, agree on a meeting rhythm and expectations early on, and collaborate on a brief annual summary of progress and goals.
3. Overview
To meet the stated objective, a clear structure and a detailed guideline are essential for this program. This document outlines the responsibilities of the mentee, the mentor, the department chair, and FAS Dean's Office. It describes the reporting hierarchy and its frequency. This document was adapted from existing programs at AUB (mainly MSFEA) and other universities in North America (University of Pennsylvania, Michigan State University, Northern Illinois University, University of Maryland, and MIT).
Figure 1: Suggested timeline for the mentorship program until the submission of the first Mentor-Mentee report.
4. Responsibilities of Department Chairs
The department chair should assume responsibility for the entire mentoring process at the departmental level, with responsibilities involving information provision and resourcing for new faculty before and at the beginning of the appointment, evaluative mentoring, oversight of the mentoring program at the departmental level, and reporting to the Dean's Office and developing/implementing guidelines for junior faculty support. The specific responsibilities are described below.
I. Information Provision and Resourcing
Act as the new faculty member's mentor from the moment the offer is accepted and work with the new faculty member to choose a mentor by the end of the first semester after the appointment. When the offer is accepted, the chair should communicate with the new faculty member to (i) inform them of teaching load/course release policy and agree on types of courses they will teach in the first year (required and elective courses), (ii) ensure that adequate resources are made available with the first year of appointment and are budgeted for (office space, lab space, equipment, software, etc.), and (iii) answer any questions they may have or help direct them to resources and written information.
Participate in organizing an orientation session for new and other junior faculty members to explain policies and procedures at the university, Faculty, and department levels (in the second month of the fall semester annually). It is suggested that the Dean's Office organize this orientation as part of a FAS-wide orientation for junior faculty since many of the topics of concern to junior faculty members are common across departments.
II. Evaluative Mentoring
Mentor junior faculty on evaluative aspects including reappointment/promotion/tenure issues on an as-needed basis
Conduct the annual performance review of every faculty member and provide substantive feedback in writing and a personal meeting with the faculty member
After the contract renewal evaluation and the promotion/tenure evaluation, the chair is responsible for providing substantive feedback about the faculty member's performance and/or progress toward promotion, including excerpts from external reviewers' letters.
III. Oversight and Reporting
Maintain an updated list of assigned mentor-mentee pairs in the department and share it with the Dean's Office annually (at the time of the annual performance reviews when mentors may be changed) or whenever it is updated (e.g. at the end of the first semester on campus of new faculty members when mentors are assigned)
Encourage the active participation of senior faculty in mentoring, prepare them for their mentoring role to overcome possible biases, and clearly communicate to mentors' expectations about their responsibilities and time commitment (e.g. effort to be spent in reviewing grant proposals or giving advice about manuscripts, willingness to give honest feedback and interest in their mentees' professional growth)
Protect junior faculty from situations that may make them vulnerable: such as demands from senior faculty that may take excessively from their time, or being exploited in group grants or facilities
Document and evaluate the mentoring activities at the department level, ensure that mentoring is taking place in the department, and send an annual report of mentoring activities for every mentor-mentee pair in the department to the Dean's Office.
IV. Guidelines for Junior Faculty Support
Service: Avoid burdening junior faculty with excessive service obligations, including committee load. Keep service to a minimum in the first few years, for example, by involving the faculty member in at most two committees (especially those involving a visible payoff for the time invested) and preferably at the departmental level and not at the expense of research and teaching.
Teaching: Balance the number of new start-up courses for junior faculty, try not to give them a new course to teach every semester (e.g. the course taught in the fall of the first year can be repeated in the spring of the first year), and try to avoid assigning them teaching overload; provide the opportunity for the new faculty member to teach a graduate class in his/her area of research, potentially attracting students who may become research students.
Resources: Give priority access of junior faculty to good graduate students (as the first few graduate students have an influence on the faculty member's advancement towards promotion) and to resources that support research and professional development (equipment, space, RA supplements, and travel/workshop support funds).
Encourage the practice of peer observation of teaching and classroom visitations for new faculty members especially in their first year after appointment (to be conducted by the mentors, senior faculty members in the department who are willing to do so, or peers of the junior faculty member), as well as co-teaching courses between junior and senior faculty.
5. Responsibilities of the Dean's Office
It is suggested that an Associate or Assistant Dean for Faculty Development play the role of lead coordinator of mentoring and faculty development efforts at the Faculty level who would provide oversight to departments' faculty mentoring programs or activities, reinforce existing guidelines, or develop new ones for junior faculty support, organize mentorship and faculty development activities at the Faculty level, and act as a liaison with other units in AUB, such as the Provost Office, the Office of Grants and Contracts, etc. More specifically, the following responsibilities are envisioned for the Dean's Office in terms of the junior faculty mentoring program:
Oversight
Analyze mentoring reports from departments, evaluate the mentoring program, develop strategies for improvement, and document the mentoring process at the Faculty level
Ensure that departments have guidelines in place to prioritize junior faculty members' access to resources