Faculty members on the tenure-track should expect to have mentors ready to help you navigate to tenure promotion. However, they have an active role to play in making sure they are getting the mentoring they need.
Section 2 of the Mentoring Toolkit focuses on key skills needed to support development:
- Self-assessment: Every faculty member should have a sense of their strengths and the strengths that need to be cultivated and nourished.
- Communication: Seeking and receiving feedback, as well as advocating for oneself and expressing oneself clearly.
- Goal setting: In conjunction with knowledgeable others, set goals and objectives that are measurable and relevant to the criteria of evaluation.
- Understanding mentoring as a relationship: Knowing what both mentors and mentees expect from each other goes a long way toward building trust.
- Cultivating a network: No single mentor (or even small group of mentors) can provide guidance about all issues.