Faculty Mentoring Program
College-Wide Faculty Mentoring Program
For questions about the logistics of the program, please contact:
Kara Tierney, Program Coordinator
Brighton Campus, Building 8, Room 310
(585) 292-2416
How Does the Process Work?
New and returning untenured full-time teaching faculty as well as new adjunct faculty members are invited to participate as mentees. Each mentee is paired with a volunteer mentor from a different academic department. Each pair meets throughout the academic year, according to the mentee’s needs. The level of interaction between mentors and new faculty is determined by each individual relationship that unfolds without an agenda imposed by the program. Likewise, the number and duration of meetings between each of the pairs of mentors and new faculty is mutually agreed upon rather than set by anyone outside of the pair.
Mentor Qualifications
- Tenured Full-time Faculty Member
- Interest in nurturing developing faculty members
- Generous with time and knowledge
- Possess great listening skills
- Eager to acclimate a new faculty member
Why Mentor?
- Mentoring provides new faculty with a personalized introduction to the culture of the college and helps with challenges and rewards of teaching at MCC.
- Mentoring facilitates networking, which is advisable for all new faculty at the college.
- Mentoring provides new faculty with a confidential contact outside their department to discuss matters that they might not otherwise want to discuss within their department.
- Sharing your thoughts and experiences with new faculty also helps you to re-evaluate what you do on a daily basis, re-think how you operate in the classroom and review possible changes to policies and practices.
Suggested Activities for New Faculty and their Mentors
- Attending campus events together, enjoying lunch on campus, and sharing experiences on finding work—life balance
- Informal classroom observation
- Discussing career goals, the tenure process, academic bullying, classroom issues, embracing diversity, classroom technology, disruptive students
- Honing instructional techniques, course development, and curriculum issues, informally observing each other’s classes
- Getting acquainted with issues specific to teaching at a community college such as, reaching the full range of learners we have in our classrooms.
- Also important are MCC procedures such as parking, key control, print shop, bookstore, health services, human resources, leave reports, and travel reimbursements.