Schedule an initial meeting with your mentor (This can be lunch, breakfast, or a coffee break).
Group lunches with other mentor/mentee pairs may be useful.
Schedule regular meetings with your mentee.
Offer to look over your mentee’s vita and provide feedback.
Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the current RTP policies, both at the Library and University levels. Ask for clarification. Offer your advice from personal experiences and observations.
Learn about the current portfolio system and offer asstance to your mentee with his or her files. Encourage your mentee to attend AAUP workshop on current portfolio system.
Discuss your mentee’s line of inquiry for research.
Keep your eyes open for possible collaborations. Introduce your mentee to potential collaborators.
Discuss possible venues for publications and presentations.
Offer to proofread papers before submission.
Travel to a conference with your mentee. Introduce them to colleagues you know at other institutions. Encourage them to become involved.
Take your mentor to a Faculty Club and attend other important campus programs together.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses. Ask your mentee about challenges he or she is facing.
Be there to provide support in case of upsetting events or conflicts. Keep your eye out for available campus and community resources.
Maintain confidentiality.
Feel free to reevaluate the mentor/mentee relationship and make changes if need be.
For Mentees
Schedule an initial meeting with your mentor (This can be lunch, breakfast, or a coffee break).
Schedule regular meetings with your mentor.
Talk to your mentor. You may like to meet monthly or bi-monthly, but each mentor/mentee pair should schedule what works for them.
Have your mentor look over your vita and get feedback.
Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the UL Faculty Handbook review and promotion policies for NTT Faculty.
Be sure to ask for clarification in areas in which you have concerns or questions.
Ask questions regarding priorities for job performance, professional development and service, as well as expectations of each component.
Brainstorm goals and priorities for professional development. Where do you want to be in ten years? Dream big!
Ask about realistic timelines for assignments, as well as time management strategies.
Attend an AAUP workshop on using the current portfolio system.
Ask your mentor proofread or look over your annual narrative or your file in the current portfolio system.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses. Keep your mentor informed about your progress as well as any hurdles you encounter.
Be open to suggestions and constructive criticism.
Attend campus programs and events together.
Ask about campus and community resources for your needs.
Ideas: HR workshops, ALA Webinars, conferences, etc.
Ask for help when you need it.
Maintain confidentiality.
Feel free to reevaluate the mentor/mentee relationship. You can always ask for a different mentor.
Mentoring Checklists for Non-Tenure Track Faculty
For Mentors
Schedule an initial meeting with your mentee (This can be lunch, breakfast, or a coffee break).
Group lunches with other mentor/mentee pairs may be useful.
Schedule regular meetings with your mentee.
Talk to your mentee. You may like to meet monthly or bi-monthly, but each mentor/mentee pair should schedule what works for them.
Offer to look over your mentee’s vita and provide feedback.
Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the current NTT review and promotion policies, both at the Library and University levels. Ask for clarification. Offer your advice from personal experiences and observations.
Learn about the current portfolio system, and offer help to your mentee with his or her files.
Encourage your mentee to attend an AAUP workshop on current portfolio system.
Travel to a conference with your mentee.
Introduce them to colleagues you know at other institutions.
Encourage them to become involved.
Take your mentee to a Faculty Club and attend other important campus programs together.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses. Ask your mentee about challenges he/she is facing.
Be there to provide support in case of upsetting events or conflicts.
Keep your eye out for available campus and community resources.
Maintain confidentiality.
Feel free to reevaluate the mentor/mentee relationship and make changes if need be.
For Mentees
Schedule an initial meeting with your mentor (This can be lunch, breakfast, or a coffee break).
Schedule regular meetings with your mentor.
Talk to your mentor. You may like to meet monthly or bi-monthly, but each mentor/mentee pair should schedule what works for them.
Have your mentor look over your vita and get feedback.
Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the UL Faculty Handbook review and promotion policies for NTT Faculty.
Be sure to ask for clarification in areas in which you have concerns or questions.
Ask questions regarding priorities for job performance, professional development and service, as well as expectations of each component.
Brainstorm goals and priorities for professional development. Where do you want to be in ten years? Dream big!
Ask about realistic timelines for assignments, as well as time management strategies.
Attend an AAUP workshop on using the current portfolio system.
Ask your mentor proofread or look over your annual narrative or your file in the current portfolio system.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses. Keep your mentor informed about your progress as well as any hurdles you encounter.
Be open to suggestions and constructive criticism.
Attend campus programs and events together.
Ask about campus and community resources for your needs.
Ideas: HR workshops, ALA Webinars, conferences, etc.
Ask for help when you need it.
Maintain confidentiality.
Feel free to reevaluate the mentor/mentee relationship. You can always ask for a different mentor.
Mentoring from a Distance
Like everyone else, Mentors and Mentees are now having to learn to work successfully with each other at a distance. The following article has several concrete recommendations for making this practice successful.
Nguyen, Annie and Rhodes, Scott (2019) "Strategies for Successful Long-Distance Mentoring," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 2: No. 4. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1064
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Gallo, A. (2011, February 1). Demystifying Mentoring. Harvard Business Review, HBR Blog Network.
Lacy, M. & Copeland. A. (2013, Spring). The Role of Mentorship Programs in LIS Education and in Professional Development. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 54(1), 135-146.
Moore, A. A., Miller, M. J., Pitchford, V. J., & Ling, H. J. (2008). Mentoring in the Millennium: New Views, Climate, and Action. New Library World, 109(1/2), 75-86.
Neyer, L., & Yelinek, K. (2011, May). Beyond Boomer Meets NextGen: Examining Mentoring Practices among Pennsylvania Academic Librarians. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(3), 215-221.
Nguyen, Annie and Rhodes, Scott (2019) "Strategies for Successful Long-Distance Mentoring," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 2: No. 4. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1064
Olivas, A., & Ma, R. (2009, Winter). Increasing Retention Rates in Minority Librarians through Mentoring. Electronic Journal of Academic & Special Librarianship, 10(3), 1-5.
Robbeloth, A., Eng, A., & Weiss, S. (2013, March). Disconnect Between Literature and Libraries: The Availability of Mentoring Programs for Academic Librarians. Endnotes, 4(1), 1-19.