Mentoring

Mentoring programs often focus on pairing early-career faculty members with colleagues who can help them address challenges and concerns as they establish their careers at the University of Georgia. The information on this webpage focuses primarily on this career stage but can also be valuable for mid-career and senior faculty.

The most effective mentoring is often grounded in a strong relationship of trust and mutual respect. Mentoring relationships have a specific goal, but “the relational part” of the mentor-mentee interchange is vital to its success. Mentees must know “that the mentor(s) have the best interests of the mentee at heart, that the mentors can be trusted, that they will make time for the mentee and they will do their jobs in the mentoring context.” Simultaneously, the “mentee must demonstrate commitment, responsibility and initiative.”⁴ The values of mentoring will be shaped by the individuals and the relationships they develop.

Research has shown that mentoring can help faculty:

• Expand their network of colleagues
• Establish a strong foundation for their research infrastructure and practices
• Understand promotion and/or tenure guidelines
• Improve ability to secure external funding
• Learn effective research team recruitment and management
• Be deliberate and proactive in establishing successful practices that are unique to their professional role
• Learn sustainable writing habits
• Reduce social and professional isolation
• Understand and navigate cultural and generational differences
• Manage work-life integration to create long-term satisfaction and success

Visit the below section “References and Resources” for more info.

To further explore the value of mentoring among faculty, OFA recommends Chapter 7: “Review of Mentoring in Higher Education Literature” in “Faculty Mentoring”⁵ and Chapter 2: “5 Reasons Why Well-Defined Faculty Mentoring Programs Are Essential” in “Developing Faculty Mentoring Programs.”⁴

Mentoring relationships often thrive more fully within a structured framework: “A formal, intentional approach to the mentoring experience is most likely to succeed. A formal approach is one in which the mentor-mentee interactions are deliberate, structured and goal-oriented.”¹ OFA recommends that the mentoring committee or group have a designated convener or facilitator who will handle logistics and foster effective relationships.

Below are five common types of mentoring structures, each serving different purposes and offering alternative structures:

1. Individual (One-on-One) Mentoring: A single mentor is paired with one mentee. This traditional model allows for personalized guidance and deep relationship building.
2. Group Mentoring: One mentor works with multiple mentees simultaneously. This encourages peer learning and shared experiences, while still offering access to an experienced faulty member. For this model to succeed, one individual should be responsible for the logistics that ensure meetings occur and run smoothly.
3. Mentoring Committee (or Mentoring Team): A mentee is supported by multiple mentors, each offering expertise in different areas. This model provides broad, well-rounded support, illuminates diverse points of view and may build cross-functional relationships among all members. For this model to succeed, one individual should be responsible for the logistics that ensure meetings occur and run smoothly.
4. Peer Mentoring: Colleagues at similar career stages mentor one another. This approach fosters mutual support, accountability and shared problem-solving. Peer mentoring groups may want to reach out to invite more seasoned faculty to join them to address particular topics.
5. Reverse or Mutual Mentoring: A less experienced person mentors someone more senior, often to share knowledge on new technologies, innovations or generational insights.

Conveners, also known as facilitators or moderators, are tasked with fostering structures in which caring, professional, regularly occurring interactions among all participants support the mentoring process. Here are some practices of effective conveners:

• Manages Logistics:
  • Handles logistical details like identifying viable meeting times and finding a meeting location
  • Sends electronic calendar invitations to ensure the committee members have the meeting on their schedules
• Sets Focus:
  • Partners with mentee and committee to identify topics for discussion
  • Plans the topics across the mentoring meetings so that a wide range of topics are addressed to meet the needs of the new faculty
  • Structures meeting agendas to ensure topics can be sufficiently addressed
  • Communicates agenda
  • Identifies and communicates opportunities for the mentee and committee
• Builds Relationships:
  • Facilitates shared committee goals, responsibilities and communication norms
  • Promotes effective mentoring relationships and positive interactions by sharing best practices and fostering clear, positive communication
  • Acts as a sounding board for mentee and committee members to address concerns and challenges
  • Communicates ethical standards and confidentiality boundaries of mentoring group
  • Fosters positive communication dynamics
• Shares Best Practices:
  • Learns some best practices in mentoring and shares these with group
  • Communicates with group about characteristics of effective mentors, which include the following:
    • Collaborative
    • Reliable
    • Listens and asks questions to elicit thinking
    • Promotes the success of others
    • Challenges in positive way while offering support
    • Professional, attentive and caring

While the information provided below is primarily intended for groups and committees, it can also be adapted for one-on-one meetings. The paradigm suggested below is the Dennison Group Practice Model, which conveys that successful mentoring relationships generally move through three phases: “Initial, Middle and Termination.” This framework is expressed in Table 1 below. To understand this, it is important to understand the terminology of the two sets of goals – process goals and targeted group goals – for each phase that is introduced in Table 1.⁵

Process goals focus on creating a supportive, engaging and trusting environment that fosters genuine connection and open dialogue among group members. These goals are essential to all mentoring groups because they are the relational foundation on which members feel encouraged to share and grow together.

Targeted goals, in contrast, are specific to each group and address shared challenges or objectives, such as increasing publication output, securing funding, improving instructional skills or building professional networks. These goals are determined collaboratively by group members based on their collective needs.

Table 1: Dennison Group Practice Model: A Framework for a Faculty Mentoring Group

Be attentive to the shifting process/targeted goals as having primary/secondary emphasis on chart.

Note that Table 1 outlines both primary and secondary emphasis for each group phase. Process goals are emphasized in the initial and termination phases, while targeted group goals take precedence in the middle phase. This structure is essential to the Dennison Group Practice Model, as it helps facilitators align phase-specific goals with effective session planning. Since facilitators work simultaneously toward both process and targeted goals, it is crucial to understand which set is primary and which is secondary at each stage. Additionally, the “Primary Focus of Sessions” row in Table 1 provides a concise summary of each phase’s main focus based on this emphasis framework.

Whether engaging in mentoring one-on-one or within a group, the below list offers ideas for how to create a structured, thoughtful and supportive experience for all participants.

For Conveners:

1. Review this webpage on mentoring, refer to other resources, reflect on your experience and consider how to effectively facilitate given your specific situation and goals.
2. Schedule a meeting with your unit head to discuss your plans and ideas.
3. Draft and send an email to your committee.
4. Send a welcome email to your mentee.
5. Plan the initial phase, focusing on both process goals and targeted group goals (see “Planning and Facilitating Mentoring Committees and Groups” for definitions of these goals).
6. Refer to the Mentor/Mentee Topic Checklist below.
7. Prepare for the first meeting:
   1. Collaboratively establish committee goals, roles and communication norms. See the following sections for helpful resources.

For Mentors:

1. Review this webpage on mentoring, refer to other resources, reflect on your experience and consider how they apply to your specific situation and goals.
2. Send a welcome email to your mentee.
3. Chat with other mentors in preparation if you are part of a mentoring group or committee.
4. Think about how you will contribute to building relationships for the mentee and among all who are participating.
5. Refer to the Mentor/Mentee Topic Checklist below.
6. Support convener in preparing for the first meeting:
   1. Collaboratively establish committee goals, roles and communication norms. See the following sections for helpful resources.

For Mentees:

1. Review any provided materials and reflect on what you hope to gain from the mentoring experience.
2. Consider your short- and long-term goals, especially in areas like research, funding, networking and career development.
3. Be prepared to share your expectations and preferred communication style in your first meeting.
4. Create a Topic Checklist as a tool to guide conversation and clarify priorities. You may find an example in Phillips and Dennison’s “Faculty Mentoring.”⁵

These sample guidelines outline the expectations for maintaining confidentiality within the mentoring relationship. They help ensure that personal, professional or sensitive information shared between mentor and mentee is respected and not disclosed without consent. They also help to establish clear boundaries around confidentiality.⁴

• What we discuss will not be talked about with others and will be kept strictly confidential.
• If we feel we may have breached confidentiality inadvertently, we will discuss what happened.
• We may decide to share some conversations with others, e.g., to get their help on a particular problem identified.
• What we discuss here (may be/must be) shared with the unit head or others for the purpose of feedback and evaluation.
• The mentors (will/will not) be asked to give an evaluation of the progress of the mentee.
• If a problem arises in the mentoring relationship that we cannot resolve, we may choose to discuss that confidentially with the unit head.

Consider the following resources in creating a mentoring contract/compact that helps the committee discuss and clarify goals, responsibilities and meeting structures:

• Examples from UGA’s Graduate School can be found here.
• Creating community engagement guidelines:
  • National Equity Project, Developing Community Agreements
  • Cornell University Intergroup Dialogue Project (IDP), Community Agreements

Effective mentorship can be rewarding and sustainable without becoming overwhelming. With clear boundaries, shared expectations and practical strategies, mentors can support others while maintaining their own well-being. Mentoring should energize, not exhaust, both mentor(s) and mentee(s). Adaira Landry, MD, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, suggests in the NCFDD newsletter that “mentorship doesn’t have to drain the tank.” These are amended notes from her recommendations:

• Scheduling: Consider time as an asset. Meetings should be short and organized. Meetings should stay during business hours, sparing evenings, holidays and weekends.
• Communication: Not all discussions need to be real time; allow email and voice-to-text to cut out some of the planning needed for a meeting.
• Reflection: Think about the relationship and if it’s helping both parties. Life is too short for ineffective relationships. Compassionately ending or pausing a relationship is not a failure but an act of insight.
• For more on this topic, see the mentoring resources on NCFDD. To sign up, log into “Become a Member,” select University of Georgia as your institution, and activate your membership.

The materials on this webpage are drawn from OFA faculty’s own experiences as well as excellent external resources. Primary resources are listed below and offer insights into how to design faculty mentoring programs, use coaching-style communication in mentoring and help early-career faculty launch their careers. These books share valuable bibliographies and a wealth of pragmatic information.

1. Bland, C.J., Taylor, A.L., Schollen, S.L., Weber-Main, A.M., & Mulcahy, P.A. (2009). Faculty Success Through Mentoring: A Guide for Mentors, Mentees, and Leaders. Rowman & Littlefield.
2. Boice, R. (1992). The New Faculty Member. Jossey-Bass.
3. Guccione, K., & Hutchinson, S. (2021). Coaching and Mentoring for Academic Development. Emerald Publishing.
4. Kiel, D. (2019). Developing Faculty Mentoring Programs: A Comprehensive Handbook. Academic Impressions.
5. Phillips, S.L., & Dennison, S.T. (2015). Faculty Mentoring: A Practical Manual for Mentors, Mentees, Administrators, and Faculty Developers. Stylus Publishing. (Available online via UGA Library; https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003444817)
6. Wisdom, M.L. (2025). How to Mentor Anyone in Academia. Princeton University Press.