Mentoring Programs in U-M Schools and Colleges

The following information regarding on-going programs at the University of Michigan was submitted by the schools and colleges. Please contact the individual listed at the end of each section for further details.

A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
School of Art and Design
Business School
School of Dentistry
School of Education
College of Engineering
School of Information
School of Kinesiology
Law School
College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A)
Medical School
School of Music
School of Natural Resources & Environment
School of Public Health
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
School of Social Work

A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

The College of Architecture and Urban Planning does not have a formal mentoring program in place; however, faculty are asked to comment on mentoring activities on their end-of-year report.

Contact:
A. Melissa Harris
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
amharris@umich.edu

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School of Art and Design

In the School of Art and Design, all new faculty members are assigned mentors from existing faculty. Regular gatherings with all mentors and mentees are planned throughout the academic year.

Contact:
Sherril Smith
Associate Dean
grackle@umich.edu

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Business School

There are three sources of mentoring available to faculty in the Business School, including new faculty orientation, the open classroom program, and informal mentoring.

The new faculty orientation continues from the University new faculty orientation and is designated to facilitate communication between "old" and new faculty. Several of their star teachers are brought in to impart wisdom and tips to the newly hired faculty members.

Contact:
Priscilla Rogers
Associate Professor of Business Communication
psr@umich.edu

The open classroom program series gives faculty the opportunity to observe some of their most popular instructors in action. Each of the open classes is selected because it contains well-received teaching techniques and/or important cross-functional content. The series provides new faculty with an opportunity to observe innovative and successful teaching techniques, as well as keep abreast of what students are learning in other departments.

Contact:
Scott Moore
Associate Professor of Computer and Information Systems
samoore@umich.edu

Many of the area groups in Business undertake informal mentoring through a series of classroom observations and sharings.

Contact:
Bill Lovejoy
Raymond T.J. Perring Family Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Operations Management
wlovejoy@umich.edu

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School of Dentistry

Faculty mentoring at the School of Dentistry is managed in several ways according to the nature of a faculty member's appointment. Most of the formal mentoring of faculty occurs at the department level with the chair playing a major role in devising development programs, including appropriate mentoring, for individual faculty members. These programs are developed according to a faculty member's unique goals and needs, as well as the goals and needs of the faculty member's department at the time of initial appointment. The programs are modified at regular intervals throughout the duration of appointment as each individual's needs and the department's needs dictate. Additionally, the programs are reviewed annually by the dean. While the most intensive mentoring efforts have been focused on faculty members with regular instructional appointments (tenure-track), significant mentoring efforts are also directed toward full-time and part-time clinical track faculty members.

Faculty members with regular instructional appointments are assigned a research mentor at the time of initial appointment, and significant amounts of a new faculty member's time is "protected" by the department chair to assure that the new faculty member develops an independent research program. Faculty members who need and/or desire mentoring in provision of clinical patient care can be assigned an appropriate mentor within the department. More frequently, however, faculty members avail themselves of opportunities to participate in the ongoing in-service training programs and dental continuing education programs offered by the School of Dentistry (and elsewhere) to enhance their clinical expertise and develop new skills.

Mentoring for teaching occurs at several levels. Some individuals are assigned specific mentors as they develop their teaching skills. In fact, the School of Dentistry employs an educational resource specialist specifically to assist faculty members in their development of pedagogical skills. In addition, the Office of Academic Affairs offers faculty development workshops to enhance pedagogical skills and assists faculty members in identifying and enrolling in teaching workshops and programs offered on the UM campus and elsewhere. For example, many faculty members regularly attend the workshops offered by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT). All regular instructional faculty members are expected to develop teaching dossiers.

Faculty members appointed in the clinical track usually have clinical teaching as their major area of responsibility. These individuals are recruited by departments either for their expertise as clinicians and clinical teachers or because they demonstrate the potential to become excellent clinical teachers. Clinical track faculty members who demonstrate the potential to become excellent teachers are frequently assigned mentors who are senior members of the department into which they are appointed and these individuals mentor the development of both clinical and pedagogical skills. Mentoring programs for clinical track faculty members are set up within departments and include the spectrum from more formal arrangements (where each junior faculty member is assigned to one senior faculty member) to less formal arrangements (where a junior faculty member might be mentored by any senior faculty member assigned at the same clinic sessions). Also, clinical track faculty members participate fully in all of the"mentoring for teaching" programs and meetings described above for faculty with regular instructional appointments. In fact, many clinical track faculty members attend and present teaching workshops and programs at the annual meeting of the American Dental Education Association. Just like regular instructional faculty members, clinical track faculty members are expected to develop teaching dossiers. Finally, many clinical track faculty members engage in research. Senior faculty members mentor junior faculty members for the development of clinical research skills.

Most mentoring for the development of administrative skills has occurred informally within the departments. Selected faculty members have been encouraged to participate in external programs such as the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine and the American Dental Education Association Leadership Institute. The School is currently exploring ways to implement a more formal mentoring program for the development of administrative skills.

Contact:
Marilyn S. Lantz
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
mslantz@umich.edu

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School of Education

The School of Education has several mentoring initiatives.

First, each early-career faculty member is assigned a senior faculty member who assists with the preparation of the faculty annual performance report. The expectation has been that the early-career member and senior member establish and maintain a mentor/mentee relationship with regard to other facets of the faculty member's career. In addition, all members of the Executive Committee read the early-career faculty member's annual performance report and provide feedback to the program chair, which is shared with the faculty member.

Second, senior faculty are to document in their annual report the efforts in which they have been engaged to provide support for early-career faculty.

Third, the Associate Dean for Research, Eric Dey, meets on a monthly basis with early-career faculty to discuss issues related to tenure and promotion, including grant writing, publications, and service to the profession.

Finally, one faculty meeting a year is devoted to a discussion of mentorship of faculty.

Contact:
Annemarie Palincsar
Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs
annemari@umich.edu

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College of Engineering

The college of Engineering has several venues through which faculty mentoring takes place. While each department follows their own formal or informal mentoring agenda, two formal programs offered by the Office of Academic Affairs target incoming faculty members and department chairs.

Incoming Faculty
The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs hosts a cooperative and interactive orientation program to provide a formal means of welcoming and integrating new faculty members into their community. The program, called Faculty Fellows, provides faculty with an extensive opportunity to meet and interact with other new faculty, as well as network with senior engineering faculty and a variety of University administrators. Faculty Fellows includes three events.

Luncheon with New Faculty
Hosted by the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, Stephen W. Director and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, James C. Bean, this luncheon includes all new faculty members starting in the fall, as well as faculty who began in January. The luncheon serves as an initial welcoming into the College of Engineering.

Keys to the College Retreat
The Keys to the College Retreat contains a number of sessions that focus on topics such as learning and research environments, diversity, and College resources and administration. Specific issues include lecturing skills, testing and grading, sponsored research and grantsmanship, minority programs, gender-based issues, instructional technology, and college and university administration. Guest speakers typically include the Vice President for Research, CoE faculty representatives, the College of Engineering Dean, Associate Deans, and senior administrators.

Teaching Portfolio Workshop
As a means to accurately and concisely compile, present and assess teaching productivity, teaching portfolios have been found to be an effective medium to use for both self-assessment and outside review. Together with the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) the College of Engineering is working to put together an informative and practical workshop that will facilitate the development and usage of teaching portfolios for College of Engineering faculty.

Department Chairs
The Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs meet monthly with Department chairs to discuss topics pertaining to the department chair position. Within the meetings, faculty mentoring issues are discussed.

Contact:
Stephanie Riegle
Faculty Affairs Coordinator, College of Engineering
sbrugler@umich.edu

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School of Information

All School of Information faculty submit an annual review of their performance, and resulting from this review, tenure-track faculty are mentored by the dean and appropriate senior faculty colleagues. Mentoring of tenure-track faculty also occurs in preparation for and following an extensive third year review and during the years leading towards the tenure review.

Junior faculty are paired with appropriate senior faculty mentors who can counsel them in teaching and research as needed. Considerable effort is put into the mentoring of faculty on matters of research. All junior faculty are expected to engage in research proposals and the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation considers the research training sessions for junior faculty to be an important part of his job. The small school atmosphere in the School of Information prevents faculty from escaping the collective gaze.

Contact:
Thomas Finholt
Associate Dean for Research and Innovation
School of Information
finholt@umich.edu

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School of Kinesiology

The School of Kinesiology uses a fairly formal mentoring program. All junior faculty are paired with both an internal and external (from a different school/college) mentor. The subsequent mentoring process is somewhat informal. Currently, the Executive Committee is in the process of finalizing a document that will go to all new mentors and mentees with examples of the types of activities they might wish to engage in. Once approved, the document will be placed in Kinesiology's faculty handbook.

Contact:
Pat Van Volkinburg
Academic Program Coordinator
patvanv@umich.edu

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Law School

The Law School's tenure policies provide for a support committee for all untenured faculty. At the beginning of the second semester after appointment, all faculty who so desire are assigned two or three people (appointed by the Dean) to serve on their support committee until the grant or denial of tenure.

An informal policy of the Law School recognizes that mentoring untenured faculty is the first obligation of every tenured faculty member. Requests for help should always be granted, and offers of help should be frequent, but not too intrusive.

Contact:
Evan Caminker
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
caminker@umich.edu

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College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A)

Junior Faculty Mentoring and Third-Year Reviews: Principles and Best Practices

A report to chairs, directors, and faculty from Dean Shirley Neuman, June 18, 2001

The interests of the departments and programs, of the College and the University, and of individual faculty members are best served when the people we hire are constructively mentored and reviewed. Constructive mentoring and reviewing of tenure-track faculty works to help such faculty meet high standards of rigor, depth and innovation in scholarship, and to realize their full potential as scholars, teachers, and members of the academic community. When we grant a faculty member tenure, we acknowledge the high contributions that person is making to our scholarly and learning community; we also acknowledge the institution's wise choice in hiring and wise and enabling mentoring of the new faculty member. Given all that is at stake, both personally for the candidate and institutionally, in hiring and tenure, the mentoring and reviewing of tenure-track faculty is some of the most important work we do.

Principles

1. It is the responsibility of departments and programs in which new faculty hold tenure-track appointments to mentor those faculty in ways that help them to reach their full potential in teaching and research and to be successful in the tenure process.
   
   
2. Mentoring of new faculty is a responsibility of all tenure-track faculty members, and a particular responsibility of the Chair/Director.
   
   
3. Mentoring is both a formal and an informal activity and it is about the substance of teaching and research in the academy as well as about external measures of success such as which journals one publishes in.
   
   
4. Tenure-track appointees should have the opportunity to review formally with their Chair/Director(s) at least once a year their teaching and research in relation to their progress towards tenure. These reviews should be constructive and diagnostic. That is, without predicting success in the tenure process, they should address areas of strength and areas for improvement in the faculty member's teaching, research and service and should make suggestions about goals and strategies for improvement. The formal discussion should be summarized.
   
   
5. The third-year review involves a decision about whether or not to review the candidate's appointment for a further three years. If there has been little or no research progress during the first three years of appointment, and/or if the candidate's teaching is poor and shows no signs of improvement, there is a case for non-renewal of the candidate's appointment. Otherwise, the presumption is for renewal of the appointment. Because renewal is at issue, this should be a more thorough and formal review which should involve members of the department/program beyond the Chair/Director and should aim to make constructive suggestions to the candidate about what must be achieved in order to maximize the candidate's chances for a successful application for tenure. Following this review, tenure-track faculty should receive in writing a full and frank assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of their progress towards tenure.
   
   
6. Chairs/Directors should conduct reviews of tenure-track appointees' work in a friendly and constructive spirit. The aim of these reviews is to communicate clearly the requirements for tenure, and to help candidates meet those requirements; it is not to intimidate candidates.
   
   
7. Chairs/Directors should recognize that some candidates may in some contexts (e.g., women or minorities in departments/programs with very few such people) face special challenges in being fully accepted into the department/program and in receiving the kinds of informal mentoring that both help their careers and make them feel comfortable. In such instances, the Chair/Director may wish to work with the College to find mentoring structures outside as well as within the department/ program. And s/he will wish to pay particular attention to ensure that departmental/program behavior in both formal and informal settings is fully and respectfully inclusive of such candidates and of the scholarly interests for which they were hired.
   
   
8. Department/program members should conduct themselves, in both formal and informal settings, in ways that mentor by example. We should not be mentoring anyone in our community, be they students or new faculty, in old strifes, uncivil debate, personal arguments, reputational slaughter by innuendo, etc.

Best Practices: Department

1. As soon as a candidate is offered a position and accepts, the Chair/Director should work with his/her colleagues to develop a mentoring plan for the new faculty member. The prospective faculty member should be consulted in developing this plan. The plan should include attention to teaching, graduate supervision, and research and should be predicated on being helpful rather than authoritarian. Care should be taken not to be unintentionally coercive in the formulation of the mentoring plan and to ensure that it yields reasonably consistent advice for the new appointee. This mentoring plan should include participation by several members of the department/program during the six years of the candidate's progress towards tenure.
   
   
2. Departments/programs should work to develop a "climate of mentoring" in which all members of the department/program spontaneously and informally mentor their new colleagues. Collegial conversations about the intellectual concerns of the department/program are one of the best modes of informal mentoring. Departments/programs should take care to ensure that there are departmental/program events, such as colloquia and seminars, that include new faculty as both audience and presenters, make them welcome as members of the community, and serve as modes of informal mentoring.
   
   
3. Chairs/Directors should work with the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) to ensure that new faculty take full advantage of the help in preparing for successful teaching that it offers. They should sponsor, or co-sponsor with other units, CRLT workshops, as well as"Climate Theatre" workshops in the department/ program as well as making sure that faculty are fully aware of extra-departmental/ program opportunities offered by CRLT.
   
   
4. Chairs/Directors should support collaborative teaching and research, team teaching, and interdisciplinary teaching efforts on the part of junior faculty, both for the intrinsic value of such work and because collaborative work is itself a form of mentoring. This work should be given full credit.
   
   
5. Chairs/Directors should have a friendly conversation in a formal appointment with non-tenure-track faculty at the end of each winter semester (see the document Tenure Proceedings: Principles and Best Practices, Principle 4). That conversation should include discussion of the candidate's research and his/her teaching experience for the year. It should offer advice and encouragement to the candidate and should seek to find constructive ways of addressing any emerging problems. In cases of joint appointments, the two Chairs/Directors should touch base to ensure that their respective advice to the candidate is consistent. This discussion should be summarized in a letter from the untenured faculty member to the Chair/Director. The Chair/Director should respond to this letter by either confirming the accuracy of its summary or by noting any corrections or amplifications to the understanding it conveys.
   
   
6. Chairs/Directors shall conduct a more formal third-year review in the April-May period at the end of the candidate's third year on campus (see the document Tenure Proceedings: Principles and Best Practices, Principle 5). It may involve specialists within the department/program or from another department/program in the candidate's subfield as well as the Chair/Director, and should include at least one of the candidate's recent mentors who can help interpret/present the candidate's work. It should be based on a reading of at least some of the candidate's work as well as on a review of the publication and teaching record. The conclusions of that review should be clearly, accurately, and constructively conveyed in writing to the candidate with the aim of helping him/her to maximize opportunities to meet the requirements of tenure.
   
   
7. Where tenure-track faculty hold joint appointments, the Chairs/Directors of their units should review each year their respective requirements of the candidate to ensure that they are not, together, demanding too much. Particular attention should be paid to teaching and service requirements to make sure that candidates are not doing "double duty" in, for example, teaching large introductory lectures or committee and advising assignments.
   
   
8. Irrespective of whether tenure-track faculty hold single or joint appointments, their Chairs/Directors should review their work assignments carefully to ensure that they are not being unduly burdened by an excessive number of new course preparations, large classes, or demanding service assignments.
   
   
9. Tenure-track appointments should be given the opportunity to teach in the area(s) of their research at the senior undergraduate and graduate levels during their first five years. Such opportunities may include team teaching.
   
   
10. Service assignments to tenure-track candidates should serve as mentoring contexts in which the candidate learns about the values and operations of the University (e.g., the curriculum committee rather than the hospitality committee).
    
    
11. One is not born a mentor but learns to become a mentor. Faculty mentors in a department/program should meet occasionally, but regularly, to discuss problems and strategies around mentoring and to share their knowledge.

Best Practices: College

1. The College should establish or build on current informal and formal mentoring structures outside of those of the department/program of new faculty appointments. These should include:
   1. During their first year on campus, each new junior faculty member shall be offered the opportunity to link with a "buddy" from another department/ program to whom the new faculty member can turn for advice or just conversation.
   2. The development of a "Teaching Academy" composed of highly distinguished teachers and all junior faculty members to discuss best practices in teaching, innovative teaching strategies, interdisciplinary teaching, etc., and also to serve as an informal social gathering where junior faculty from different departments/programs can get to know each other.
   3. A meeting held at least once a year, announced well beforehand and with a follow-up reminder, and open to all tenure-track faculty to discuss the requirements for tenure and promotion and the tenure and promotion process. Chairs/Directors are invited to this meeting and are to be very strongly encouraged to attend so as to introduce transparency into these proceedings.
      
      
2. The College pays particular heed to special needs for mentoring within particular groups—needs that may emerge through discussions with junior faculty or through patterns perceivable in applications for tenure. Where such needs emerge, it will set up special mentoring structures to address them.
   
   
3. The Dean and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs are open to meetings with groups of junior faculty who wish to speak with them about particular issues.
   
   
4. The Dean asks of all Chairs/Directors that they include in their annual reports a section on mentoring and on diversity and this is part of the conversation between the Dean and Chairs and Directors in their annual review conversation.
   
   
5. The Dean will work with Chairs and Directors of departments/programs with very few women and/or minority hires to help make the "climate" in these departments/ programs more friendly to such faculty (e.g., through addressing mentoring issues, issues of community, systemic discrimination, "climates" of intense internal competitiveness that may be unattractive to potential hires, etc.).
   
   
6. The Dean's Office will make available to Chairs and Directors and to tenure-track faculty a list of resources available on campus to improve teaching, facilitate mentoring, provide information about progress to tenure, etc.
   
   
7. The Dean's Office will sponsor professional workshops annually on effective mentoring of new faculty members.

Contact:
William J. Adams
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
jimadams@umich.edu

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Medical School

The Medical School has embedded specific facets of mentorship into their faculty life. The cornerstone of this is the annual review of each faculty member by the Department Chair. It is the Dean's expectation that an ongoing yearly review by either the Chair or appropriate division head be performed in a meaningful and constructive manner with each faculty member. Some departments assign specific mentors to each faculty member, particularly those of the junior level. Additionally, informal relationships inevitably develop and are actively encouraged. We do try to identify appropriate mentors, in many cases, with the initial appointment letter for each faculty member.

Another useful form of mentorship is the third-year review for instructional faculty. This entails a series of visits from the Dean's Office to each faculty member's office or laboratory. The visit involves conversation and pick up of an updated CV and teaching portfolio (if available), and a few key papers. The documents are then reviewed by the Office of Faculty Affairs. A secondary meeting with each faculty member is scheduled to discuss such issues as their trajectory, appropriateness of faculty track, specific mentorship pairings, and personal aspirations. The reviews are shared with the Department Chairs of the individuals, and a letter is sent back to each individual reviewed.

Contact:
David A. Bloom
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Medical School
dabloom@umich.edu

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School of Music

The mentoring process in the School of Music is an informal one. The Dean meets with junior faculty once a year, and the Dean and Executive Committee assign a mentor to each junior faculty member. Mentoring is tracked on a yearly basis. During the annual merit review, chairs are asked to provide a written report to the Executive Committee on the progress of all faculty, particularly junior faculty.

Contact:
James Borders
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies
jborders@umich.edu

Karen Wolff
Dean and Paul Boylan Collegiate Professor of Music
klwolff@umich.edu

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School of Natural Resources & Environment

The School of Natural Resources and Environment assigns a mentor from the existing faculty for every new faculty member. The mentor is usually in a similar or related field and is asked to help the new member with course development and research planning. No formal requirements of the mentoring program are included; the decisions of what to do and when is left to the mentor.

Contact:
James S. Diana
Associate Dean
jimd@umich.edu

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School of Public Health

While the School of Public Health does not have specific mentoring programs, it does offer many activities to promote a sense of community, one of which is specifically targeted at aiding assistant professors as they learn the culture and processes.

Each academic year, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs holds a meeting for all assistant professors. The primary purpose of the meeting is to provide junior faculty with information about the tenure and promotion process, the annual review process, and resources that may be helpful for careers at Michigan. These resources include but are not limited to: DRDA, CRLT, and CEW. Because Public Health is a relatively small school, the atmosphere of the meeting tends to be comfortable, thereby facilitating dialogue.

In recent years, the School of Public Health has made enormous strides toward building a greater sense of community. Three specific programs include:

• All-School Symposium: Each fall, the better part of one day is set aside for an all-School symposium highlighting a selected topic in public health. Each symposium includes a keynote address, followed by parallel breakout sessions. The program is developed so that all departments in the school are active participants.
• Faculty Retreat: After the conclusion of winter semester, a one-day retreat is held for faculty. Each year there is a specific topic, and in recent years topics have included curriculum, the future of public health and of the School, and preparation for accreditation reviews.
• Faculty Lunches: The Dean hosts a faculty lunch on a monthly basis. Each lunch is preceded by a short presentation (around fifteen minutes) by one of the faculty colleagues. The name of the speaker is not announced in advance.

Contact:
Jeff Alexander
Senior Associate Dean
jalexand@umich.edu

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Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Each junior faculty member at the Ford School is assigned two faculty mentors. The first mentor is usually in a similar or related field of research, and the other need not be as closely related in interest.

The responsibilities of those who agree to serve as mentors include (but are not limited to):

• Checking in regularly to see how things are going in research and teaching.
• Reading and reacting to papers, grant proposals, etc.
• Serving as a source of advice about professional advancement in general and about the University of Michigan and issues relating to the Ford School in particular.

Junior faculty should take this policy as a license to walk in and talk with assigned mentors when they have questions or simply want to talk about particular issues.

Contact:
Martha Feldman
Associate Dean
msfeldma@umich.edu

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School of Social Work

In the School of Social Work, all faculty are provided with a copy of the School of Social Work Faculty Handbook. The Dean, in consultation with the individual and the Executive Committee, assigns new faculty members a senior faculty mentor. Additionally, the School has in place a number of other mentoring activities.

The Dean, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and the Associate Dean for Research meet with all junior faculty as a group during their first term. During this meeting, junior faculty are provided information on such issues as workload, annual review, third year review, etc. This meeting offers an opportunity for junior faculty to ask questions and clarify any concerns. In addition, the Dean has individual meetings with junior faculty members once a year. This one-on-one contact allows the Dean to offer direction and provide feedback at a more personal level.

After their annual review, each junior faculty member is provided extensive written feedback by the Executive Committee. Following receipt of the feedback, they are encouraged to discuss the content with either the Dean or the Associate Deans.

Junior faculty have an opportunity to participate in a professional writing workshop conducted once a year in the School by an Editor of a major social work journal. This workshop provides an opportunity for junior faculty member to experience a "true" editorial review of one of their manuscripts. There are also numerous informal procedures in place where junior faculty are provided opportunities to work with senior faculty on research projects and work groups. We are currently discussing the institution of a more formal mentoring program for Assistant Professors and as well as Associate Professors.

Contact:
Srinika Jayaratne
Associate Dean & Professor, School of Social Work
sirijay@umich.edu

MENTORING PROGRAMS