UNT Mentor Quick-Start Guide

Thank you for your commitment to helping your fellow colleagues succeed and supporting UNT’s efforts to create an environment where faculty feel inspired and enabled to reach their full potential. As a mentor, you can be part of the development of future UNT faculty leaders by sharing your expertise and knowledge related to the professoriate. The mentoring relationship is intended to be mutually beneficial. To ensure your experience is personally and professional gratifying, below are some guidelines to assist you on your mentorship journey.

 

Expectations/Role of the Mentor

  • Maintain regular contact with your protégé (mixture of ad hoc and scheduled meetings) 
  • Assist protégé to clarify/articulate professional goals and objectives  
  • Provide support and guidance for professional and social development  
  • Facilitate networking internally at UNT and externally within the profession 
  • Offer organizational and institutional context  
  • Support retention efforts  
  • Promote collegiality  
  • Review the mentoring relationship on an annual basis and adjust as needed

Characteristics of a Successful Mentor

  • Accessible
  • Provides constructive feedback  
  • Shares awareness and knowledge of intersectional identities to promote faculty and student success 
  • Actively listens and is open to personal growth  
  • Shares knowledge and academic career experience  
  • Open about professional experiences  
  • Preserves protégé’s intellectual independence  
  • Maintains confidentiality  
  • Familiar with faculty resources 
  • Acts as an advocate for protégé  
  • Shows genuine interest in the success of their protégé

Mentor Checklist

___ Share contact information  
___ Review promotion and tenure criteria and policies for your protégé’s track and rank    
___ Obtain and review protégé’s CV prior to first meeting  
___ Discuss mutual expectations
___ Consider motivation behind serving in the mentor role Student walking through UNT book arch statue

Discussion Topics for Mentors and Protégés

  • What counts as service
  • Resources available for research
  • Annual evaluation, planning format, and process
  • Student support services (academic, social, and financial needs)
  • The culture of the department or college
  • Technology support
  • Important university and professional events to attend
  • Course preparation, grade policies, and teaching assignments
  • Rank, promotion, and tenure guidelines
  • Annual review requirements and documentation
  • Time management, setting priorities, and work-life balance

Remember: The most productive discussions are bidirectional rather than led by the mentor.

Additional Resources