Faculty-to-Faculty (F2F)

Mentoring Program

Research indicates that teachers and scholars develop successful careers more rapidly when expectations for successful performance are explicit and intellectual strengths and career development are supported.  One strategy by which new faculty members can learn information essential to successful careers is to establish a mentoring relationship with a more experienced faculty member. While many units at GVSU assign individual mentors to new faculty, we have developed a complementary program in which small groups of faculty from a wide range of disciplines come together in a mentoring relationship. 

We have adopted what is referred to a Mutual Mentoring model for our program, acknowledging that each faculty member has expertise and experience that they contribute to a mentor group.

Mentoring program quick facts:

  • Mentors are matched with groups of about six new (and newer) faculty members. Faculty in their 1st through 3rd years at GVSU are also being invited to join the program.
  • Most groups meet over coffee or a meal for about 1.5 hours, four times each semester.
  • The F2FM program is cosponsored by the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center and the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence. Each mentoring group receives $250 for the year for food and any supplies (yes to books, no to alcohol).
  • The FTLC and CSCE provide suggestions for possible meeting topics, but mentors have the freedom to bring in articles, plan field trips, invite guest speakers to the meetings, etc.
  • The groups are considered a safe space for discussion of any topic relevant to GVSU and faculty life. Confidentiality is a given. As such, mentees are asked to choose a mentor outside of their own academic discipline.

 

For additional information about the F2F program, please contact us at ftlc@gvsu.edu.