There are innumerable ways in which we can be supportive to newer colleagues. The following list is only suggestive, not exhaustive. The particular types of advice and support you offer your mentees will depend on the type of relationships you develop and the particular roles you feel comfortable playing. You are encouraged to be as generous with your time and guidance as you can, but also to set appropriate boundaries.

  • Get to know your mentees—each session should spend some time on relationship-building.
  • Talk with your mentees about teaching—yours, theirs, and just good teaching in general. Try to find out what sorts of help they might need and questions they are dealing with (e.g., grading, difficult classroom situations, etc.). Share your experience and offer suggestions.
  • Learn about your mentees’ research agenda. While you are certainly not expected to familiarize yourself with their fields, find out their intellectual interests and how they pursue them. Encourage them to pursue their research, to present at conferences, attend professional workshops, etc. When you know that they are actively engaged in some professional activity, inquire about how it is going.
  • Discuss short-term and long-term career goals and support your mentees as they work toward achieving them. 
  • Familiarize yourself with the Thursday Teaching Quickstart Lunches and encourage your mentees to attend those events (one per month in year 1, one per term in year 2, and fall term of year 3). Engage them in conversation about what they are learning through this series of programs.
  • Coach your mentees to get involved in the Carleton community. Help them make decisions about where to invest their energy, how much service work to take on and when to say no. Encourage them to become good citizens of the College, but also help them set appropriate boundaries to protect the time they need for their teaching, research, and for themselves, especially in the first year.
  • Help your mentees get acclimated to Carleton by explaining the expectations (both reasonable and unreasonable!) of students and colleagues. Share stories with them about your own experience of “getting your feet on the ground.” 
  • Connect your mentees with the resources on campus that they might find helpful. Remind them of the programs sponsored by the LTC, the winter workshops, the services of the Corporate and Foundation Relations office, and the New Faculty Cohort Mentoring Program (NFCMP). Encourage them to take advantage of all these resources.
  • Encourage your mentees to cultivate professional connections beyond Carleton, through attending professional conferences, using their Faculty Development Account funds, applying for internal and external grants, and the like. Suggest that they identify and make contact with colleagues in their field at other nearby institutions.
  • Learn about how well your mentees are integrated into their departments. Help your mentees if they are struggling with some internal departmental issues. The College chooses to pair incoming faculty with a mentors in other departments precisely so that there is a safe and confidential source of support. Be prepared to be that person.
  • Check in with your mentees regularly. It is essential that you connect with your mentees in a meaningful way at least once per term; two to three times would be better. Research has shown that the more frequent the contact between mentors and mentees, the more helpful the relationships are. In-person meetings are best, but even phone calls can be a good way to maintain the connection. What matters is not the venue, or even the length of time you spend together, but the quality of the relationships you develop.
  • Recognize the limits of your own knowledge and experience. Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t know something, when your experience might not be relevant, or when you might not be the best person to address a particular question or concern.