Department of Political Science
Faculty Mentoring Policy
Adopted November 27, 2011

Mentoring of junior faculty facilitates a collegial and collaborative work environment and is critical to the success of our department.  Mentoring is a process in which faculty members share their experiences regarding a variety of issues related to professional development, research, teaching, engagement, and service to the department, University, and professional communities external to the department.  Although much of this should occur in a natural, informal way, through multiple interactions, we have established the following departmental guidelines to ensure that mentoring does occur.

1. The department head will assign a faculty mentor to all untenured professors during their first year, in consultation with the faculty member and the prospective mentor.

2. Appointment of a faculty mentor will be an option for all Associate Professors.

3. Under normal circumstances, untenured faculty should meet with their mentor at least once per semester. It is the responsibility of the mentor to initiate these meetings.

4. Mentoring should address various aspects of research, teaching, engagement, service, and professional development issues, as necessary and appropriate. The mentoring process is intended to provide general guidance on various aspects of successful professional development, rather than to provide guidance specific to procedural aspects of the case for promotion and tenure.

5. The department head will check with untenured faculty once per year to verify that effective mentoring is occurring. 

6. If at any point the process breaks down, the mentor/mentee can approach the department head to correct it in a mutually agreeable manner.