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Digital Arts New Media Program Mentorship Plan

DANM Mentoring Plan

(tentative pending restructuring discussions)

  1. Since DANM PF all have home departments we have been considering how to create our own independent mentoring plan that can enhance the current transition that DANM restructuring will produce (host department - PPD, FDM). Thus, we must also understand DANM PF’s home departments as we devise our own mentoring plan.
  2. We must establish a formal agreement between DANM mentors and proteges that creates formal guidelines that also factor in our PF host departments’ mentoring. DANM will draft a mentoring plan that provides clear mentoring guidance from the beginning of a mentoring relationship to promote successful interaction and is designed to avoid major misunderstandings.

Points to consider: DANM’s mentoring program should provide clear guidelines on how it operates individually within DANM as well as with consideration of moving into PPD. It should include the balance of leadership roles, assistance with advancement and career choice process and expectations of both mentors and mentees. This will help mentees to set achievable goals and focus on areas where they need to improve

  • Establish amendments to DANM Bylaws that establish mentoring procedures that support Principal Faculty when mentees are paired with selected mentors that help guide them through the faculty advancement process.
  • We will consult with DANM Principal Faculty who have encountered past and current problems (especially as junior faculty) that may provide factors for consideration as our mentoring goals are established.
  • Consult with the Division department to determine how DANM mentoring procedures (and matters of service) can merge with those of host departments and to help maintain carefully balanced workloads and service.
    • Establish specific mentor activities, assessments, and guidelines that fit the mentee’s career directions. This requires active listening, freedom of questioning, constructive challenge, thoughtful guidance and direction. 
    • Mentoring should offer role models for new faculty, who learn by simply watching the behavior of the assorted senior faculty.
  • Establish an annual monitoring system for collecting and documenting all DANM PF service that can be shared with host departments.
  • Match mentors with protegees using faculty from both within or outside the Division to match individual PF needs (mentoring clusters - constellations?)
  • Leave room for making alterations to mentoring pairs as needed.
  • Monitor and evaluate the results of the mentoring pairs periodically to keep pace with changing needs.
  •  Our next step involves meeting to merge DANM’s Mentorship Plan with PPD’s
  • Define the PPD’s departmental and DANM program's mentorship goals.
  • Outline the mentoring collaborative mentoring process.
  • Select program clearly defined mentoring types and participants.
  • Discuss and define collaborative and individual (DANM & PPD) methods of matching mentors and mentees.
  • Discuss plans for mentorship training.

Summary:

DANM’s mentoring plan must articulate how new and current faculty members will receive the mentoring and support that they need to be successful. Since there are significant differences among faculty members in how much support, feedback, and mentoring they need to receive, Mentoring will help DANM recognize where there are mentoring gaps that need addressing and help all faculty gain access to resources and supports that exist on campus for faculty members.

Given that faculty from underrepresented groups (by gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexuality, first generation status, nationality, or other factors) are usually less likely to receive mentoring in most university environments, mentoring plans can help develop more inclusive environments. Mentoring plans should be carefully tailored to each new faculty member needs, getting mentees’ input into the tailored development of each mentoring plan.