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FACULTY MENTORS: NEW ROLES, NEW RELATIONSHIPS

Part-time faculty are a valuable resource for two-vear colleges. Their growing numbers and
responsibilities at Austin Community College led us to look for ways to facilitate their orientation and
adaptation to the role of community college instructors. With these thoughts in mind, we designed and
implemented the Mentor Program,

Typically, an experienced faculty member acts as a mentor to new part-time instructors. However, other
faculty may be assigned to the program: e.g., an instructor teaching a course for the first time, new full-time
instructors, or instructors who need additional assistance in the delivery of instruction.

The problem this program addresses is significant. Most participants assigned to a mentor are new part-
time instructors. For most part-time faculty, especially those teaching at night and at off-campus centers,
contact with other ACC staff is very limited. Instructors may, through an entire semester, have contact only
with Division Chairpersons, Department Heads, Campus Deans and Site Managers. Contact with other
faculty, especially those teaching in the same department, may be virtually non-existent. It is this concern,
as well as others, that led to the implementation of the Mentor Program.

The Mentor Program facilitates the orientation and adaptation of new faculty members by teaming them
with an experienced faculty member, from the same department or division, in a non-supercisery relationship.
Faculty mentors are full-time instructors or experienced part-time instructors, with special knowledge or
skills, willing to assume this important support role.

The mentoring relationship is designed to extend over one semester and is characterized by flexibility and
mutually agreed upon objectives. The Mentor Program is vof supervisory or evaluative. Guidelines tor the
program include (1) a planning meeting during which time the new faculty member and his her mentor
establish mutual agreement on the objectives of the program and (2) a work plan for accomplishing them.
The objectives should reflect the following outcomes:

1. understanding the administrative requirements of his/her job (i.e., grade and attendance reports);

2. discussing the use of a course syllabus;

3. learning about instructional resources (i.e., LRS, Student Services, Faculty Development);
4. modeling a positive example of the teaching role for the new instructor;

5. becoming familiar with departmental student evaluation systems

In addition to setting, objectives, a schedule for additional contacts is agreed upon. While each
relationship will be different and is structured to meet the needs of the individuals involved, there are
certain suggested program elements: e.g., visits to observe each other's classes, periodic telephone
conferences, other personal conferences, tours of college facilities, and scheduled meetings with other staff.

Mentoring brings added duties and responsibilities to these selected ACC faculty, both part-time and full-
time. A nominal honorarium is offered to faculty mentors. And while it certainly does not repay the time
and effort mentors invest, it does symbolize the value the institution places on the mentor’s willingness to
act in this capacity.

While there is always room for improvement, the Mentor Program has proven to be one ol increasing
value to our growing institution. It helps a multi-campus, multi-site college function with ever-increasing
numbers of part-time faculty. Program policies demonstrate concern for the new faculty member's
professional life and offer recognition to the faculty who serve as linchpins for the success of the program—
the mentors.

Mimi Valek
Instructional & Staff Development

For further information, contact the author at Austin Community College, P.O. Box 2285, Austin, TX 78768.

 

 

MO} Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

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