Assistant Professor/Assistant Professor of Teaching Mentorship

Guidelines for Mentors

Mentorship for Assistant Professors and Assistant Professors of Teaching means more than just helping new faculty members achieve tenure or security of employment. Mentors have the opportunity to support their mentees in a wide variety of avenues towards a deeper engagement within the department, the school, the campus and the Orange County community. As a mentor, you also have institutional knowledge that you can offer to your mentor to help them navigate the vast bureaucracy that is UCI and find success in their career.

A successful mentor/mentee relationship can last long after the formal mentorship period has ended, and former mentors may continue to claim informal mentorship as service when they themselves are up for merit/promotion reviews.

Mentors are not expected to do or know everything, and mentees may have multiple mentors to fulfill different needs.

This document outlines the expectations for faculty mentors and the resources available to them. The responsibilities can be subdivided into a handful of main categories.

Mentorship of Mentee on Their Merit/Promotion/Tenure Path

• Advise mentee on breadth and depth of research/creative work, teaching, and service as it pertains to their merit/promotion path
• Draw mentee’s attention to department-, school-, campus-, and system-wide AP guidelines and meetings as appropriate
• Help mentee develop strategies for gaining a national reputation and developing relationships with potential letter writers
• Meet with mentee face-to-face at least annually to discuss their goals and progress. Feel free to meet face-to-face more often!
• OPTIONAL
  • Read/attend department-, school-, campus-, and system-wide guidelines and meetings as appropriate to enhance mentorship
  • Review/advise mentee on their tenure/promotion file, including personal statements
  • Serve as early reviewer/editor for mentee’s publications 

Advocacy for Mentee

• Advocate for your mentee where appropriate in department- and school-wide situations
• Recommend your mentee for appropriate research and creative work activities in order to help them grow their profile, including conference & paper presentations
• Recommend your mentee for appropriate funding and award opportunities, and direct your mentee towards grants and other funding opportunities
• Be a resource to department and school leadership in terms of identifying methods of support to enhance the support of the mentee
• OPTIONAL
  • Refer mentee to others on campus who might be interesting collaborative creative partners

Serve as Ally in Finding Success at UCI

• Serve as ‘institutional knowledge’ for the untenured faculty member, including providing helpful and constructive background on speed-bumps within the institution, campus, and department
• UCI is a complex working environment. Mentees often have questions about how/where/who to approach for support and services. Mentors can be a resource for success
• Be cognizant of your mentee’s possible needs related to their own identities and experiences in higher education
• Refer mentee to others on campus who may also have useful guidance or resources, including folks in other departments, schools, or staff positions
• Advise mentee on resources to help with TA/GSR/labor issues
• Draw upon your own knowledge to guide your mentee and serve as sounding board for ‘informal’ topics such as
  • Work/life balance
  • Teaching guidance
• OPTIONAL
  • Provide social support to your mentee. Many junior faculty come to UCI from outside the OC area and with little or no social network.  They could sometimes use a little friendship.
     

Resources

The resources available to mentors can be subdivided into a handful of main categories:

Humans

• Other members of the UCI community may be in positions where they can provide support to your mentee in addition to your mentorship.
• They may also be able to support you in your mentorship
• Here are some people who may be able to support you.
  • Your chair & MSO
  • CTSA Equity Advisor (currently Vincent Olivieri)
  • CTSA Associate Dean for Academic Personnel (currently Alan Terricciano)
  • Former mentors
  • Other faculty mentors
  • Staff

Units

These units at UCI may be able to help you or your mentee:

• Academic Personnel – AP handles promotions, merit increases, and other issues specific to faculty
  • AP maintains a Faculty Development page that may be particularly useful
• Academic Senate – The Irvine Division of the Academic Senate represents the Irvine faculty in the shared governance of the University of California. The Academic Senate is empowered by the Regents to determine academic policy, set conditions for admission and granting of degrees, advise the Chancellor on the campus budget, authorize and supervise courses and curricula, and advise the administration on faculty appointments and promotions
  • The Senate has many councils and committees that may also be useful resources
• Office of Inclusive Excellence – OIE is the backbone of the campus’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion
• CTSA Human Resources
• Office of Equal Opportunity Diversity – OEOD is responsible for the University's compliance with federal and state laws and University policies and procedures regarding discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. They work to promote and integrate the principles of equal opportunity, affirmative action, and nondiscrimination at UCI.
• Office of the Ombuds – The Office of the Ombuds provides a safe and comfortable environment to discuss complaints, concerns or problems confidentially. When appropriate, the office will initiate an informal intervention with the goal of facilitating a resolution that is acceptable to all parties involved
• UCI has a number of Faculty/Staff Diversity Affinity Groups

Contacts

Vincent Olivieri
Professor, Department of Drama
Equity Advisor
olivieri@uci.edu

Alan Terricciano
Professor, Department of Dance
Associate Dean for Academic Personnel and Undergraduate Affairs
aterricc@uci.edu