COLLEGE OF LETTERS & SCIENCES (L&S)
Components of an Effective Faculty Mentoring Program
Faculty Mentoring Mosaic
L&S Division of Biological Sciences
Molecular & Cell Biology
The division head in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology generally assigns a faculty mentor to new faculty recruits a soon as they arrive on campus. The responsibilities of the faculty mentor include informal meetings, assistance with manuscripts and grant applications and along with the division head, advice on career advancement. More information about faculty career development in MCB may be found in the document MCB Policy on Mentoring of Junior Faculty.
Integrative Biology
Mentoring Liaison: Zack Powell, Professor
L&S Division of Humanities
French
In the French Department mentoring practices are mostly informal. New junior faculty members generally will be assigned a senior colleague to act as mentor through the moment of tenure, and the department chair will also meet regularly with junior faculty to answer questions regarding procedures and policy as well as to review teaching, research, and professional activities and obligations as well as any other areas of concern or interest. The chair may also have regular informal conversations with Associate Professors and Professors regarding their professional concerns, obligations, aspirations, and development. Committee assignments in the department are done carefully to make sure that no one is overburdened, while everyone is progressively familiarized with all areas of departmental life and responsibility. Faculty are highly encouraged to participate in intellectual life on campus outside the department, and are also encouraged, when at the appropriate level of advancement, to perform service duties outside the department. A vibrant and highly participatory series of colloquia, seminars, lectures, and conferences by visitors as well as our own faculty provides many informal moments for intellectual collaboration and for mutual mentoring as regards intellectual development.
Italian
Mentoring practices are, for the most part, informal. Other than yearly meetings between the junior faculty members and the Chair, most mentoring takes place through informal conversations. There is a very active colloquium series and many social events. The Chair mentors Associate Professors by holding yearly meetings and occasional discussions with the Dean about their status and by providing a general climate of support and exchange.
German
Mentoring Liaison: Niklaus Largier, Professor
Music
The department chair mentors junior faculty and also endeavors to match each junior professor with a senior colleague in the same sub-discipline (e.g., composition, ethnomusicology, historical musicology). The department chair is responsible for discussing the merit and promotion processes with each assistant and associate professor in an initial meeting after arrival at Berkeley and periodically thereafter as the professor advances. Initial discussions also include course load and time management advice, as well as orientation to other campus resources, such as the Teaching Center, the Committee on Research, and so on. Conversations about leaves, benefits, housing, child care, and numerous other aspects of life at UC Berkeley are also part of the mentoring process. Meetings with the senior colleague assigned as mentor vary in frequency, but generally include more specific advice on publication and other professional activities relevant to the field of specialization. As junior faculty are gradually assigned to departmental committees they may also be mentored informally by the chairs of those committees.
Near Eastern Studies
Near Eastern Studies is a small department of approximately 15 ladder faculty who represent a wide range of disciplinary interests, ranging from anthropology to comparative literature. The department chair is responsible for facilitating appropriate mentoring and career advising for all faculty in the department. The chair plays a specific role with assistant professors, meeting with them regularly to ensure that they understand the requirements for promotion to tenure and are meeting the expectations for scholarship and teaching. The department strives for collegial culture that will foster intellectual exchange and mutual support around professional advancement. Because of the small size and interdisciplinary nature of the department, mentoring and professional development activities that promote interdepartmental relationships are also important.
Philosophy
Mentoring practices in the Department of Philosophy involve assignments of senior colleagues to serve as faculty mentors for each member of our junior faculty. Assigned mentors meet as needed with the junior faculty assigned to them to discuss all aspects of professional life. Assistant professors are also actively encouraged to seek feedback and guidance from all tenured members of the department. In addition, the department chair generally meets at least once per semester with each assistant professor to answer any questions the untenured faculty members might have about teaching, research, professional activities and obligations, participation in departmental life, balance of professional and personal life, etc. At the end of the year, the assistant professor's teaching and research record is reviewed, and constructive feedback is offered by the department chair, with the goal of helping the colleague to understand and to meet the university's requirements and expectations for promotion to tenure.
Rhetoric
The Department of Rhetoric encourages all members of the Department to take up mentorship, advisory, and other sponsoring roles, vis-à-vis the junior faculty member and his/her work and advancement in the field or on campus. The department also has a specific mentoring plan for new lecturers, instructors, post-docs, visiting faculty and junior ladder-rank faculty set forth in this document: Mentoring Plan for New Hires.
Scandinavian
The Scandinavian Department is very small, with just five ladder faculty members. In general, faculty mentoring, while it definitely occurs on an informal basis with untenured and associate colleagues, is simply a foundation for departmental culture and can be defined as part of a larger system of well-considered mutual support. A complete description of the mentoring and professional development commitment in the Scandinavian Department is set forth in this document: Scandinavian Faculty Mentoring.
Spanish/Portuguese
The department chair appoints a senior faculty member for each new junior faculty member. Senior faculty members provide guidance on matters of networking with colleagues inside and outside the department, supporting research in the broadest sense, understanding local academic culture, etc.
L&S Division of Physical Sciences
Astronomy
The Chair of the Department of Astronomy serves as the mentoring liaison and generally meets once each semester with assistant professors and once a year with associate professors in the department to discuss their progress towards advancement. While much of faculty mentoring is informal, each junior faculty member may be assigned a senior colleague as a primary mentor. The role of the primary mentor is to provide advice and general insights about faculty life. Such advice might include how to attract graduate students, how to apply for grants, and what courses might be appropriate to teach. This mentoring relationship is a complement to the more formal role of the chair regarding expectations and procedures for advancement to tenure or to full professor. All faculty informally share information with their colleagues. Regular faculty meetings enhance communication between faculty, allowing for formal discussions of department business and informal conversations about science and other matters. Departmental seminar series and associated social gatherings allow for further interactions. The Department of Astronomy website provides additional information about events.
Earth and Planetary Science
The Chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science acts as mentoring liaison and meets at least on a yearly basis with junior faculty. While mentoring at EPS is mostly informal in nature, a senior colleague is assigned as mentor for each junior faculty member. The role of the mentor is to provide advice and general insights about faculty life and complements the more formal role of the chair by providing guidance during personnel reviews. Generally, all senior faculty act as advisors and advocates for their junior colleagues. Communication between faculty is enhanced by weekly faculty meetings which allow for both formal discussions of department business and informal conversations. Several meetings are dedicated to "EPS Conversations", in which faculty informally discuss recent research interests. A number of departmental seminar series and associated social gatherings allow for further interactions.
Mathematics
There is informal mentoring for the small number of faculty who are hired at the Assistant Professor level. Senior faculty act as advisors and advocates for the junior colleagues. In addition, the Chair serves to continually advise junior faculty concerning the tenure process at Berkeley. Finally, the Department's Teaching Committee provides peer visits to faculty to assist them with adjusting to the teaching culture here.
Physics
In the Department of Physics, each junior faculty member is assigned a senior faculty mentor at the time of his/her arrival. The role of the mentor is to provide advice and support to the new faculty member. More information about professional development for faculty in the Department of Physics may be found in this document: Physics Junior Faculty Mentoring.
L&S Division of Social Sciences
Anthropology
In the anthropology department, the role of faculty mentoring liaison will be carried out by the Department Chair. The department's plan is to develop mentoring practices for its largest cohort of "junior" faculty, who are Associate Professors. Taking the "liaison" part of the designated role as key, the Chair will undertake to match faculty with possible mentors; to introduce mentors to best practices resources; and, in the event that the department has new assistant professors in the future, to develop a policy under which on arrival each new assistant professor is assigned a mentor who is in turn provided support as a mentor.
Demography
Mentoring Liaison: Mike Hout, Chair
Economics
The Department of Economics does not have a formal mentoring program in place, but it has cultivated a successful "climate of mentoring" in which all members of the department/program spontaneously and informally mentor their new colleagues. The Department Chair will be designated as the .faculty mentoring liaison. More information about faculty professional development in the Department of Economics is set forth in the this document: Faculty Mentoring in Economics.
Ethnic Studies
The chair is responsible for insuring that the Ethnic Studies Department is meeting the mentoring and career development needs of assistant and associate professors. The chair generally meets twice yearly with each assistant and associate professor to discuss department and university procedures for advancement, and to take stock of progress on scholarship and publication. The chair will also advise faculty members at these meetings about the teaching and service components of their files. The department chair may meet with full professors to discuss their continued advancement as needed. The chair may also assigns a formal mentor for each assistant and associate faculty member, from either inside or outside the department. For each mentorship arrangement, the chair may send a detailed email to the mentor outlining specific goals of the mentoring relationship. The chair may flag specific issues that will be important to this mentee. The goal is to give guidance to the mentor and concrete “content” to the mentor-mentee relationship. The chair may check in with the mentors as needed to support them in their mentor role and discuss the progress of faculty under their mentorship.
Gender & Women's Studies
Mentoring Liaison: Barrie Thorne, Chair
History
The Department of History believes deeply in communal investment in the intellectual growth and professional development of each of our members. The chair of the Department of History is responsible to convey to each assistant professor the necessary information regarding advancement and procedures, the calendars, and the expectations governing merit reviews, the mid-career appraisal, and the final appraisal as set forth in the Faculty Mentoring Plan.
Mentoring Liaison: Mary Elizabeth Berry, Chair
Linguistics
The Linguistics Department assigns each junior faculty member a three-member mentoring team consisting of the Department Chair, a research mentor, and an advocate. All three mentors are senior faculty members. The Chair's specific mentoring responsibility is to counsel the junior faculty member on preparation for and progress towards tenure. The research mentor, selected from an area close to the junior faculty member's area of specialization, provides advice in the area of research and publication strategies. The third member advocates for the junior faculty member within the department, ensuring that teaching, advising and service responsibilities are appropriate.
Political Science
The department chair coordinates information flow to all faculty in Political Science and advises faculty on the departmental expectations for advancement, with particular attention to promotions to tenure and full professor. The department chair may meet at least annually with all assistant and associate professors to review their progress towards advancement. The department chair also may discuss mentoring and professional development needs with faculty and make efforts to ensure that faculty have support from a variety of sources. In some cases, the department chair may make an effort to match junior faculty with senior faculty in a more formal mentoring relationship. At times, the department has supported additional initiatives specifically to encourage mentoring and peer support for faculty such as group luncheons for the assistant professors with a discussion of what mentoring, networking, and peer support they might like to participate in during the academic year and $25 “stipends” for individual faculty lunches, either senior faculty inviting junior faculty, or junior faculty inviting senior faculty. Events of interest to faculty can be found at the Political Science events calendar.
Psychology
The goal of the junior faculty mentoring program in Psychology is to maximize career development among the junior faculty. Senior faculty mentors are assigned to a junior faculty. Tenure review workshops are conducted for the junior faculty. A program is also offered to the junior faculty whereby once or twice a month, a senior faculty member will come in for a talk on running lab meetings, publishing, teaching, etc., in a casual setting. More information about the faculty mentoring program in Psychology can be found in this document: Psychology Junior Faculty Mentoring Program.
COLLEGE OF CHEMISTRY
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) has a strong tradition of providing for the mentoring and professional development needs of its faculty. Generally, the department chair will meet with new faculty and identify a mentor from among the senior faculty early in the academic year. More information about the faculty mentoring program in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering can be found in this document: CBE Faculty Mentoring and Professional Development Plan.
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Bioengineering
In the Department of Bioengineering, all new faculty generally are assigned a faculty mentor. Mentors help integrate new faculty into the culture of the department and the campus and provide advice on all aspects of their professional development. Mentors help junior faculty to develop strategies to manage their time and balance their responsibilities in research, teaching, and service; introduce them to colleagues and potential collaborators; and provide some tips to navigating the complex Berkeley bureaucracy. Most importantly, mentors provide support and guidance during personnel reviews.
Computer Science
In the Department of Computer Science the department chair serves as the mentoring liaison. Each new faculty member is assigned a senior faculty member as a mentor. The mentor is expected to meet with the faculty member to discuss all aspects of an academic career. Often, the mentor includes the new faculty member in joint project proposals, research meetings, etc. Generally the chair asks the mentor, and perhaps other faculty with suitable expertise, to visit the new faculty member's classroom to observe and provide feedback on teaching. Finally, the chair meets with new faculty members at least annually to discuss progress.
Electrical Engineering
Mentoring Liaison: Costas Spanos, Associate Chair
Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
A climate of mentoring in which members of the department spontaneously and informally mentor new colleagues is fostered. Senior faculty members are encouraged to work with junior faculty resulting in much collaborative research. Weekly department seminars are organized by junior/senior faculty pairs, which provide an informal mentoring opportunity and help the junior faculty member establish ties to researchers outside of the university. The department chair also acts as an informal mentor, giving feedback on teaching and research.
Materials Science and Engineering
The Chair and the Faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is committed to the concept of faculty mentoring of its tenure-track faculty members in ways that help them to reach their full potential in teaching, research and service. More information about faculty professional development in the department of Material Science and Engineering can be found in this document: Material Science and Engineering Faculty Mentoring Plan.
COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
The College of Environmental Design adopted the following faculty mentoring policy engaging the three academic departments in individual and joint mentoring activities. CED Junior Faculty Mentoring Policy
COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
The Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) has a two-dimensional structure for mentoring faculty, with all faculty assigned one mentor and assistant professors assigned an additional mentor. More information about the ESPM professional development programs for faculty is in the document: ESPM Faculty Mentoring
PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS
HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
The Haas School of Business adopted its “Policy with Respect to Mentoring Junior Faculty” in April 2011. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs monitors the mentoring and professional development programs for the School. The School also provides services and resources as well as host events to promote outstanding teaching and deepen the focus on teaching excellence through the Center for Teaching Excellence. The Center works with ladder and professional faculty, across all disciplines, all stages of the teaching career, and all levels of performance.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
The dean of the Graduate School of Education is responsible for faculty mentoring and professional development. The Faculty mentoring policy adopted by the faculty in 2009 is set forth in this document: Graduate School of Education Faculty Mentoring Policy.
SCHOOL OF LAW
The associate dean is responsible for ensuring that the School of Law is meeting the mentoring and career development needs of junior faculty. The associate dean usually meets individually with each junior faculty member each year to advise them on the procedural aspects of the tenure ladder and also to discuss their progress in scholarship and teaching. More information about faculty mentoring and professional development at the School of Law can be found in this document: Law Faculty Mentoring Program.
SCHOOL OF OPTOMETRY
Current practices for faculty mentoring in the School of Optometry are informal. Both the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and the Chair spend time discussing development and advancement with new faculty, and for new Assistant Professors, a faculty mentor is designated. In addition, the Department has created a "young at heart club" in which new faculty, along with few senior faculty, get together informally for a lab tour and dinner about once every six weeks.
GOLDMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Mentoring Liaison: Steven Raphael, Professor
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE
The process of faculty mentoring in the School of Social Welfare begins from the moment that a new faculty member is hired, and includes regular meetings with the dean, the assignment of a senior faculty mentor and efforts to integrate new faculty into social and intellectual support networks on and off campus. More information can be found in this document: School of Social Welfare Faculty Mentoring.
