The goal of the Faculty Mentoring Program is to support and retain assistant professors as they progress towards tenure.
The Faculty Mentoring Program at UWM began in 1983 through the dedicated work of a group of faculty and administrators. The initial goal of the program was to be a resource for women faculty as they progressed towards tenure. Later, the program was expanded to include all untenured faculty members who expressed the desire to have a mentor.
This program is not a substitute for guidance provided by the academic department of the faculty member as outlined in Faculty Policies and Procedures Section 4.05. The purpose of the program is to provide additional information and to be a resource for the faculty member to complement the guidance provided by the department.
The Faculty Mentoring Program includes an array of potential mentoring opportunities including one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring, and peer support opportunities. Events sponsored by the program include orientation for new faculty, interactive workshop on tenure process, and other informational sessions.
Here are a few current activities related to the Faculty Mentoring Program:
- UWM has a membership in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity; the NCFDD describes its focus as follows: “NCFDD provides on-demand access to the mentoring, tools, and support needed to be successful in the Academy. We focus on four key areas that help achieve extraordinary writing and research productivity while maintaining a full and healthy life off campus: strategic planning, explosive productivity, healthy relationships, and work-life balance.” Click here to find out how to activate your free account and to learn about activities here at UWM related to the NCFDD membership.
- Mentoring Graduate Students Community of Practice. This Community of Practice was established recently to provide opportunities to gather as mentors of graduate students to develop, in conversation, our competencies to mentor graduate students with compassion. Monthly sessions are held to focus on the practical aspects of implementing competencies such as mentoring agreements, statements of mentoring philosophy, engaging in culturally aware mentoring, navigating conflict and other topics of interest to the group. Click here to join the Teams page to keep you apprised of events.
- Individual mentor-mentee matching at UWM. Current mentoring research is suggestive that no one person is likely to meet all of your mentorship needs, so you are encouraged to develop a network of mentors. That said, having a mentor within UWM but outside of your school or college can indeed be useful. You can request to be matched with a mentor here at UWM. Participation in the program is voluntary. The success of the program depends on the initiatives taken by the mentor and the mentee in sustaining a productive relationship over the course of progress towards tenure.
For professional development resources related to teaching and instruction, faculty are also encouraged to participate in workshops, trainings, and seminars from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
For further information, please contact Professor Bonnie Klein-Tasman at 414-229-3060 or bklein@uwm.edu