Faculty Policy Council
COE Faculty Mentoring Policy
Initially Approved November 13, 2006; Effective Fall 2007
Revised and Approved January 23, 2017; Effective Fall 2017
Revised by Faculty Affairs Committee during Fall 2019 and January 2020
Approved by FPC, February 24th, 2020
Purpose
University of Florida policy stipulates that colleges “shall establish a mentoring program for faculty in the tenure probationary period.” The College of Education faculty is committed to the career growth and professional development of its junior members, both tenure track and non-tenure accruing faculty, and will provide the support necessary to ensure the implementation of the mentoring program.
Selecting a Mentor
- All new, full-time tenure- and/or promotion-seeking faculty (henceforth “mentee”) will meet with the school director within the first month of employment to discuss mentorship and identify possible mentors.
- Prior to selecting a mentor, the school director and mentee should consider time commitments, availability, professional needs, and scholarly goals so that an appropriate mentor/mentee match can be made.
- The school director will contact an individual or individuals and determine their willingness to serve as mentors.
- Based on the school director’s discussions with potential mentor(s), the school director and mentee will select the mentor.
- The mentor will serve in this role for a period of not less than one year, unless circumstances necessitate a briefer time frame.
- An untenured and/or unpromoted faculty member will have access to a mentor until that mentee is tenured and/or promoted, unless circumstances necessitate a briefer time frame.
- A non-tenured and/or unpromoted faculty member will have access to a mentor for six years, or until that mentee receives the first promotion, whichever comes first, unless circumstances necessitate a briefer time frame.
Mentoring Procedures
- The nature and extent of mentorship are based on the individual needs of the mentee. Although it is expected that mentoring tasks will vary, they include consultation on issues related to scholarship, teaching, and service (as relevant to the mentee’s assignment).
- The mentor and mentee will collaborate to determine which kinds of assistance will be most beneficial to the mentee.
- During the first full semester of the mentee’s employment, the mentor and mentee will establish a schedule of meeting dates during which they will consider potential goals and activities of mentoring.
- No later than the second semester of employment, the mentor submits to the director the mentoring goals and related mentoring activities, including the projected schedule of meeting dates for the academic year.
Accountability
- Each school director is responsible for implementing the mentoring policy.
- Each mentor should be assigned a percentage of their time (in the Faculty Assignment Report) for mentoring, and their mentoring activities will be addressed with their director in their annual review.
- No later than the beginning of the second full semester of the mentee’s employment, the school director shall submit a report to the Dean that lists all eligible mentees and their assigned mentor(s). The report should include projected goals, related mentoring activities, and meeting dates for each mentee, as reported by mentor-mentee pairs.
- By the end of the year, the school director will consult with the mentee and mentor, together or separately, to discuss the helpfulness of mentoring and determine whether the current arrangement will continue or a new mentor will be chosen.
- At the end of each spring semester the directors will submit a brief end-of-year report to the Dean verifying that mentoring activities that occurred during the year for all those who qualify and indicating whether the current arrangement will continue or providing details regarding changes. The end-of-the-year report will be discussed with the Dean at the director’s annual review meeting.