Mentoring a Diverse Faculty HERC Conference

1. Mentoring a Diverse FacultyHERC Conference November 7, 2008 Mary Childers, Ombudsperson Dartmouth College

2. What Mentoring Systems Should Include • Substantive information • Institutional support • Identification of obstacles and resources • Reality testing • Group networking opportunities • Flexible individual matches • Alternative microclimates

3. Preferred Institutional Context • On-going commitment to recruitment • Frank discussion of campus climate issues • Visible senior leadership support for mentoring program

4. Case Western Reserve University - NSF-ADVANCE Grant ACES – Major Initiatives, Multiple Levels Commitment of Senior Administrators Provost’s Annual Leadership Retreat Accountability of Deans Climate Change Committee Departmental Grants Faculty Development Search Committee Supports Faculty Grants New Structures, Policies & Procedures Distinguished lectureships Monthly student pipeline Hotline coaching Student bias training

5. Case Western Reserve University, II • Climate assessments and faculty exit survey • Executive coaching for women faculty, faculty of color, deans, and others • Faculty Development Workshops Courtesy of Amanda Shaffer, CWRU

6. Different Types of Mentoring • Natural mentoring • Situational mentoring • Supervisory mentoring • Formal facilitated mentoring • Peer Mentoring

7. What Mentor Should Understand • Relevant institutional policies • Complexity of multiple identity challenges • Racial and ethnic bias • Potential consequences of hyper visibility • Unrewarded service tax on minority faculty • Possible tensions between needs of individual and institution

8. Campus Norms and Differential Impact • Rank-based hierarchy • Untenured Faculty Silence • Individualism From “The Impact of Social Interaction and Reward System Norms on Underrepresented Faculty,” Annie Gubitosi-White, from Diversity Web (www.diversityweb.org)

9. Grassroots I RACE (Researchers and Critical Educators) California State University, Fullerton • 2002 a group of then untenured faculty of color convened • Maintains a campus recruitment and retention website • Monthly mentoring and social luncheons for untenured faculty • Partnering with a senior associate dean, support from provost and president • Leveraging location on a “majority minority” campus

10. Grassroots II University of Illinois at Chicago • Initiated by Black and Latino faculty • Documents the needs of Black and Latino faculty • Structured mentoring opportunities for under-represented faculty through community building, peer support, and professional development • Ongoing feedback to departments, college and university leaders • Assists faculty with the challenges of institutional racism, job satisfaction, isolation, and productivity

11. Grassroots III: Alternative Microclimates • Complementary to departmental microclimates • Can emerge from rewarding service outside department • Potential for collective action against bullies • Fosters mentoring relationships “Faculty Microclimate Change at Smith College” – see Ackelsberg in resources

12. References • Keeping Our Faculties Symposium, University of Minnesota, Conference V: March 12-14, 2009 http://www.cce.umn.edu/conferences/kof/ • Keeping Our Faculties Symposium, University of Minnesota, Conference IV: April 12-14, 2007 (includes Amanda Shaffer Presentation) http://www.cce.umn.edu/conferences/kof/background/index.html • Diversity Web: www.diversityweb.org (Includes Annie Gubitosi-White abstract at: http://www.diversityweb.org/diversity_innovations/faculty_staff_development/recruitment_tenure_promotion/underrepresented.cfm) • University of Michigan ADVANCE Program Publications and Reports http://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/publications_and_reports • References on Chilly Climate for Women in Academe http://dynamic.uoregon.edu/~jjf/chillyclimate.html • Duke Mentoring of Faculty: Principles and Practice http://www.provost.duke.edu/policies/Faculty_Mentoring_Initiative.htm • Ackelsberg, Martha, Jeni Hart, Naomi J. Miller, Kate Queeney, and Susan Van Dyne. “Faculty Microclimate Change at Smith College.” Forthcoming in Reconstructing The Academy: Faculty Take the Lead. ed. Winnifred Brown-Glaude Rutgers University: Rutgers University Press, 2009. • Stanley, Christine A., and Yvonna S. Lincoln. "Cross-Race Faculty Mentoring." Change 37.2 (Mar. 2005): 44-50.