Mentoring

Rethinking Faculty Mentoring: What Institutions Can Do Differently

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Rethinking Faculty Mentoring Webinar

Watch the Recording: Rethinking Faculty Mentoring: What Institutions Can Do Differently Welcome:– Geoff Watson, NCFDD, CEO– Todd Benson, EdD, COACHE Executive Director and Principal Investigator Panelists:– Pearl Dowe, PhD, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor, Emory University– Steve Lee, PhD, Assistant Dean of Inclusion and Principal Facilitator with CIMER, Stanford University Most institutions say they … Read more

The Link Between Faculty Development and Institutional Success

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institutional success

Author: NCFDD In higher education, student success is a top priority. Institutions dedicate significant resources to advising, academic support, and student engagement initiatives. But one essential factor often doesn’t get the attention it deserves: faculty. Faculty success isn’t separate from institutional success. It’s the driving force behind it. When faculty are supported—through development opportunities, mentoring, … Read more

FSP by the Numbers: A Snapshot of Impact 

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faculty success program

Since its inception, the Faculty Success Program (FSP) has supported thousands of academics across disciplines, institutions, and identities as they navigate the demands of scholarly writing, research productivity, and sustainable work-life integration. From assistant professors just beginning their careers to full professors seeking renewed focus, FSP provides a proven structure and community to help faculty … Read more

How Emory University is Redefining Faculty Mentoring at Scale 

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emory university faculty mentoring

On many campuses, mentoring is widely valued but loosely defined. It’s often left to individual departments or informal pairings, without much structure or accountability. While many institutions recognize the importance of faculty mentoring, building a coordinated, sustainable approach that works across all career stages remains a challenge. At Emory University, efforts to strengthen mentoring began … Read more

From Uncertainty to Clarity: Inside the First Department Chair Success Program

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department chair success program

For new and experienced department chairs alike, leadership can feel isolating. You’re expected to manage conflict, mentor faculty, make strategic decisions, and balance countless priorities—often without any formal preparation. That’s exactly why we launched the Department Chair Success Program (CSP). After welcoming our inaugural cohort, one thing became clear: when chairs are supported, everything changes. … Read more

Mentoring Gaps with Real Consequences: Who’s Affected and What Institutions Should Know

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mentoring

Author: NCFDD Mentoring is widely recognized as essential to faculty success, but not all faculty experience it as effective or equitable. In our recent collaboration with the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), we took a closer look at national faculty survey data to better understand who’s being supported by current mentoring models—and … Read more

Beyond the Guru: Rethinking what Mentorship Looks Like in Higher Ed

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rethink

Author: NCFDD For a long time, academic mentorship has followed a familiar formula: a junior scholar is paired with a more senior colleague—someone with experience, wisdom, and insider knowledge. This “guru model” was once the gold standard, designed for a time when faculty careers were more linear, roles more narrowly defined, and success pathways more … Read more

Redefining Mentoring in Higher Education

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Mentoring White Paper

A white paper from NCFDD and COACHE What does effective mentoring actually look like, how can institutions prioritize it, and how can you obtain it? Produced in partnership with NCFDD and the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) at Harvard University, this white paper examines the persistent gap between how important mentoring is … Read more

Why Faculty Mentoring Still Isn’t Working (And What We Can Do About It)

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mentoring

Author: NCFDD If you ask most faculty whether mentoring matters, the answer is almost always yes. But if you ask whether their mentoring experiences are actually helping them thrive? That’s where the conversation shifts. Many faculty enter academia expecting mentorship to be a meaningful part of their growth. They’re told they’ll get guidance on research, … Read more

Mentoring Up: Pro-actively Engaging With Your Mentors Begins With Assessing Yourself

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Author: Steve Lee, PhD In an upcoming workshop, I’ll be offering some strategies to help faculty find and manage relationships with mentors. My approach has been to encourage faculty to “mentor up”, i.e. to learn how to pro-actively engage with their mentors, which is based on Gabarro’s and Kotter’s original concept of “managing up”. When Gabarro … Read more