A mentor is someone who takes a special interest in helping another person develop into a successful professional. Mentoring is advising, teaching, counseling and role modeling. It is a relationship that changes over time as the parties grow, learn, and gain experiences in the relationship. New faculty may have lower self-confidence about their chances for success, and benefit from strong relationships with senior faculty. The faster we bring our new colleagues up the learning curve, the more productive and valuable they are in helping achieve the department s mission.
Mentors can create a more conducive climate to help new faculty achieve success.
Both formal and informal mentoring can be very helpful to new faculty. However, some new faculty may not wish to participate in a formal mentoring relationship. Group Mentoring mentor has multiple mentees. Professional Mentoring mentor with industrial or business experience provides assistance with career and professional development. Academic Mentoring mentor with academic experience provides assistance with career and professional development focus on academe.