Why Mentoring for New and Pre-Tenure Faculty? Academic Success!
By Dr. Jim Thornhill, Special Assistant to the Vice-President Research
Mentorship of pre-tenure faculty is a key component to academic success. Sutherland and Peterson (2009) advocate from a national study conducted throughout New Zealand that early academic success of new faculty is determined by 3 factors:
- Prior training and experience of the new candidate,
- Personal characteristics of the candidate (tenacity, resolve, work/life balance) and
- The institutional support provided (e.g. time, space, resources).
At the University of Saskatchewan, The Provost’s Office via the Gwenna Moss Teaching & Learning Centre and the Vice President Research Office via the Research Mentorship Program have come together to highlight and support mentorship in assisting new faculty in planning and implementing their teaching and research plans.
This video introduces how academic mentorship teams support new faculty at the University of Saskatchewan with their two major mandates, namely their teaching and research portfolios as experienced by two pre-tenure faculty in The College of Kinesiology. Dr. Leah Ferguson and Dr. Marta Erlandson, along with Dean Carol Rodgers, discuss what academic success looks like, how their mentorship committees were formed, the benefits to working with mentorship committees, suggestions based on their experiences, the importance of a diverse committee, practical considerations for a positive mentorship experience, and how mentorship can contribute to academic success.
If you have questions about mentorship activities at the University of Saskatchewan, please contact: Dr. Jim Thornhill, Co-Lead of University Mentorship Program at jim.thornhill@usask.ca.
