{"343341":{"#nid":"343341","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Faculty Find Way through Mentoring","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFor new faculty, the university environment is not necessarily new but can be an overwhelming entity of operations during the first years. At Tech, many find their place among their peers on campus through mentoring.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ETo some, mentoring is a formalized one-on-one relationship with a senior advisor; to others, it\u2019s casual conversations, relationships that form over time, or short bursts of well-timed advice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ESusan Thomas, assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, appreciates all types. Since arriving at Tech in 2012, she has found mentorship to be beneficial in all aspects of her work and in helping her find a sort of on-campus family.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIn formal settings, you don\u2019t feel bad asking questions because that\u2019s what the person is there for,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I also like the informal settings because the mentor-mentee relationship doesn\u2019t expire.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThough the Woodruff School does not assign mentors, Thomas has sought out those in her department with similar philosophies when she needs advice. Colleagues have helped provide guidance for cultivating research resources, recruiting and working with graduate students, and strengthening her teaching.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPeople Want to Help\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EWhen Anne Pollock took her first faculty position at Tech nearly seven years ago, she asked a senior faculty member she admired to be her mentor \u2014 but he declined. Rather than let this be the end of her pursuit of mentorship, she took it as a learning experience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cYou can\u2019t take things too personally when you ask for help,\u201d she said. She has since pursued informal mentoring relationships with a number of colleagues, each of whom is helpful in different ways, depending on experience or expertise.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EDespite declining a formal mentoring relationship, the senior faculty member later provided Pollock with valuable tips on teaching preparation, proving one of her tenets of mentorship: People want to share their insights.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EPollock has also benefited from being the one mentoring. She advises postdoctoral fellows and has offered advice to others who are starting out on their academic trajectories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s intellectually stimulating and keeps you thinking strategically about your own work,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I\u2019m talking to postdocs about their next publication or how they are developing their careers, it makes me think about my own, too.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe fellows she advises don\u2019t work in her same academic space, but she can still provide feedback on their endeavors. Similarly, formal mentor relationships don\u2019t necessarily need to be with someone in the same area of expertise. Common ground can be found in a number of areas, and mentors should not be trying to make their mentees follow the same paths they chose.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cThere are many routes to excellence, and mentorship is more useful if we consider the individual\u2019s trajectory,\u201d Pollock said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EOutside of junior-senior faculty relationships, Pollock believes relationships with staff have been essential to her success as well because of staff members\u2019 institutional and operational knowledge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThough Pollock hasn\u2019t had a formal mentor, she has gotten useful feedback in annual reviews. She believes there is value in having a combination of both informal and formal arrangements. Informal settings can be better for individual projects or tasks. Formal settings can be less personal, and, therefore, provide the opportunity for more objective feedback and the \u201cbrass tacks\u201d that are sometimes needed for progress.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cFor formal relationships, it helps mentors to have some structure of what it is they\u2019re supposed to be covering or discussing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be just grousing or just cheerleading.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6 class=\u0022p7\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMany Paths for Success\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe School of Literature, Media, and Communication recently adopted a mentorship structure that lets junior faculty choose their mentors from a pool of senior faculty who have stated their interest in mentoring.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cNew faculty are often at the bottom of the \u2018food chain,\u2019 and this empowers them by leaving some meaningful choices to them,\u201d said Richard Utz, professor and chair in the School. They still discuss the selection with Utz, who can provide input on whether the selection is a good fit.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EUtz encourages faculty to look to those outside their specialty area to increase collaboration, inclusion, and interdisciplinary endeavors. Still, he recognizes that formal mentoring is not for everyone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cSome new faculty might actually prefer not to be mentored, seeing the program as a burden more than an advantage,\u201d he said. \u201cIn all these discussions, it\u2019s of great importance that new faculty succeed in finding their own place in their new unit, and they should have a say in what happens during the mentoring process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EIn the Woodruff School, Thomas participated in one type of structured mentoring that was specific to teaching. The Woodruff Teaching Fellows Program is a 13-week program designed to help faculty members be better teachers. There, Thomas was able to get direct feedback in a formal setting, ask questions, interact with other faculty, and identify her strengths.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt takes it to a whole new level when you actually have to put practice into action,\u201d said Wayne Whiteman, director of student services and academic professional in the Woodruff School who organizes the program, which began in 2012. \u201cThe idea is to build a learning community and develop a culture of teaching and learning excellence in the school.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ENo matter the format, both mentors and mentees seem to come to the table with the same sentiment: They want to get better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cEveryone can be more excellent,\u201d Pollock said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhether through formal or informal means, mentoring proves crucial for faculty acclimation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Whether through formal or informal means, mentoring proves crucial for faculty acclimation."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-11-10 11:12:07","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:26","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-11-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1506","name":"faculty"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"4372","name":"mentoring"},{"id":"167943","name":"School of Literature Media and Communication"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}