Mentoring in the changing academy: attending to context: part I.(IN THEIR OWN WORDS)

Institutions of higher education, once among the most resilient of our societal structures, have experienced immense pressures for accountability in an array of arenas which, until very recently, have been quite sacred.

Declining state and federal support for higher education, particularly evident in public institutions, has led to increased costs of attendance often without financial aid or scholarship dollars to buffer the increases. Once our nation's schools promoted their value based on inputs, number of students enrolled, size of the institutional endowment and the number of terminal degree qualified faculty. Now they are asked to measure student learning outcomes and demonstrate the "value added" for the increased costs.

Administrators are now expected to create more efficient institutions, faculty are to be more accountable for effective instruction that promotes greater student learning, researchers and scholars are to address more relevant problems and issues, and development officers are to substantially increase private financial support.

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Paralleling these demands have been other changes. Junior colleges have become community colleges, regional colleges and universities have expanded degree offerings often adding significant graduate programs and distance education offerings, research intensive institutions have sought to become research extensive, and the growth of for profit institutions has escalated. Accreditation has come under scrutiny, both regionally and federally, and boards of regents and trustees have increasingly become involved in the daily operation of institutions.

In an era of rapid change, the roles and responsibilities of employees at every level are changing as well. Never before has professional development been a higher priority. Once largely defined as "faculty development," it now is critical for administrators at all levels, from department chairs/heads, associate/assistant administrators to deans and VPs. Simply "learning on the job" is no longer an efficient or viable way to develop the administrative skill set needed to anticipate and address change.

Mentoring administrators