Practical tips for effective faculty mentoring.

Navigating the academic waters can be confusing for new faculty. Departments follow unwritten rules. Those who don't learn to chart the course don't make it to tenure. Junior faculty need advice, role models, coaching and support. A mentor can help.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Informal mentoring is great for those who have it. Mentors and protegees choose each other, often without naming the relationship. Senior faculty reach out to those who look like their younger selves. In a department dominated by white males, white men get most of the mentoring. Women and minorities too often fall through the cracks.

To ensure all new faculty get guidance, more and more schools have begun formal mentoring programs. Dr. Rosemary Keefe, professor of English and women's studies and director of faculty development at University of Wisconsin-Superior, led a WWHEL workshop on faculty mentoring in October 2003. She drew on her experience and the work of Dr. Beth Heuer, special assistant to the chancellor for affirmative action at UW-Oshkosh. In peer mentoring tradition, women exchanged tips around tables and reported back to the group.

Recruiting good mentors

Mentoring takes time away from scholarship and teaching. Finding the best potential mentors and persuading them to volunteer is an art. Once chosen, mentors need care and feeding to keep up their interest and skills. An effective mentor is:

* A respected role model