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All faculty may elect to work with an informal mentor. Informal mentoring is an agreement between mentor and mentee to participate in mentoring activities. Those interested in participating in informal mentoring should refer to the DCEPS Expert Resources Guide (posted on the K Drive) and contact individuals on that spreadsheet directly. Informal mentoring is not monitored or rewarded. Informal mentors and mentees are encouraged to notify the chair of the activity.

All full-time faculty in their first year of service in the DCEPS will be assigned a formal mentor by the department chair unless the new faculty requests that the chair not assign a mentor and opts instead to participate in informal mentoring. Formal mentors to new faculty should typically have been at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ for at least three years. Efforts should be taken to promote a good fit between mentor and mentee regarding particular expertise, such as research, grants or teaching. The mentor should help the mentee prepare for successful reappointment, tenure and/or promotion, including maintaining the necessary portfolio information, understanding expectations in the department, finding the right balance between teaching, research and service, integrating into the department culture, and setting goals. 

Mentors may but are not required to involve mentees in their scholarship activities, such as articles, presentations or grants, or in their professional service activities, and they may but are not required to edit manuscripts or other written documents. It is the mentor’s responsibility to work with the mentee to determine other needed supports outside of the scope of the mentor. Appropriate resources may be identified by referring to the mentoring documents posted on the K drive, including the DCEPS Expert Resources Guide, Types of Mentoring guide, and NCFDD Mentoring Map. The mentor should assist the mentee in linking to the relevant resources identified in the documents. Mentors are not responsible for mentees’ success or failure to achieve tenure or promotion. 

Formal mentors will have the following responsibilities: 

• Complete DCEPS Faculty Formal Mentoring Agreement outlining agreed upon goals for the academic year
• In collaboration with the mentee, assist them to write a faculty development plan for target goals and objectives for scholarship, teaching and service activities designed for achieving reappointment, tenure and/or promotion.
• Schedule monthly meetings with the mentee at a mutually agreeable time to review progress and problem solve.
• Communicate regularly as needed with the mentee via email, online, phone and in-person
• Review materials for the teaching portfolio and annual review.
• Review materials for pre-tenure review, tenure and/or promotion where appropriate.
• Observe one or more classes to assess/review teaching effectiveness.
• Encourage the mentee to become independent productive faculty members. 

Mentees will have the following expectations:

• Attend monthly meetings with mentor throughout the academic year.
• Communicate regularly as needed with the mentee via email, online, phone and in-person
• Provide review materials in advance of the due date for submission.
• Adhere to the faculty development plan for teaching, scholarship and service.
• Consult with mentor about service requests they receive.
• Become independent in scholarship, teaching and service. 

Mentors are expected to avoid exploitation of mentees. Collaborative projects will be monitored for possible exploitation. If either the mentee or mentor is not satisfied with the way in which the relationship is developing, they can request a reassignment or discontinuance. The request must be in writing citing the rationale and is submitted to the department chair. 

Serving as a mentor to one’s colleagues is a normal part of academic life and expected of senior faculty. Mentoring is particularly critical to support the growth, development and retention of first year faculty. College funds from the Dean's org will be used to provide a stipend of $500 to the formal mentor for serving successfully as a mentor to a first year faculty member during their first academic year. This stipend will be distributed to the formal mentor at the end of May. 

To establish the agreement between each formal mentor and new faculty mentee and keep track of formal mentoring relationships in the college, the attached form should be signed and filed by the Chair. A copy should be sent to the Dean. The Chair will inquire about the progress of the mentorship throughout the year. The Dean will follow up with the Chairs to review the effectiveness of the mentorship program at least once per year.