Mentoring Circles

Introduction

ADVANCE Office of Faculty Development and the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning through Research (CATLR) are Mentoring Circles in the Fall 2024 academic year. Northeastern Mentoring Circles are groups of faculty who meet together regularly, over the course of the academic year, to exchange experiences, challenges, and opportunities for the purpose of enhancing self-confidence, communication skills, leadership practices, and/or commitment to one’s career. Each Mentoring Circle is composed of 4-6 faculty members and facilitator(s).

The goals of the Mentoring Circles are to:

    • Offer a group mentoring experience for all faculty
    • Develop interdisciplinary networks for faculty across colleges
    • Provide opportunities for faculty to interact with peers around career development strategies
    • Develop mentoring experiences that increase faculty job satisfaction and create a meaningful sense of belonging
    • Develop a mentoring model that can be shared with other universities

Description and Logistical Information

Applicants will need to identify and rank three circles they are interested in. ADVANCE and CATLR will review proposals, select discussion topics from those proposed, and set the meeting times. The Mentoring Circles can be composed of junior faculty, mid-career, full professors, or a mixed rank group.

Faculty participants commit to:

  • 2-4 hours a month
  • Participation in the monthly Mentoring Circle meetings
  • Participation in the Orientation, Mid-year Check-In, Closing Celebration, and program evaluation
  • Signed contract stating their commitment to participate and to keeping all information shared in the Mentoring Circle confidential
  • Full participation in the Mentoring Circle discussions

The Mentoring Circles program can be used as a model peer mentoring program. ADVANCE and CATLR will disseminate the Mentoring Circle model to a wide audience within and beyond Northeastern.

The 2024 application deadline will be announced at a later date.

Charting Your Professional Pathway Toward Promotion
Facilitators: Earlene Avalon, College of Professional Studies, and Valeria Ramdin, Bouvé College of Health Sciences

A good recipe for professional success is to realize why you are here, where and what you want to be, and play to your strengths and passions. Whether it be specifically for promotion, or to become more intentional with your contributions and professional growth, it is important to envision, plan, and chart your own trajectory. In this circle, we will discuss ways to identify our professional goals and ambitions and explore opportunities for professional growth and contributions that align with Northeastern’s goals and priorities.

 

Inclusive Teaching

Facilitators: Kat Gonso, College of Social Studies and Humanities and Sheila Winborne, College of Social Studies and Humanities

Inclusive learning approaches should be both overt and lived within classes. It is something that should be directly addressed and made clear through course documents as well as embodied through professors’ actions. An inclusive teaching environment can help lead to greater opportunities for success for students of all cultures and backgrounds. We will include an introductory examination of the topic and an exploration of some best practices.

 

Learning from Discomfort: Using Uncertainty to Spark Change

Facilitators: Amy Lantinga, College of Professional Studies, and Laurie Nardone, College of Social Sciences and Humanities

While times of uncertainty can leave us stuck pedagogically and professionally, we can use these uncomfortable feelings to explore development and change. In this mentoring circle, we’ll acknowledge our current relationships to our teaching and our professional lives and examine strategies for motivation, focus and success.

 

Publishing For Impact

Facilitators: Alex Fronduto, College of Professional Studies and Lindsay Portnoy, College of Professional Studies

This mentoring circle will take a more expansive view on sharing your work across wide audiences supported by your colleagues. Gain support from colleagues as you prepare an article, conference paper, op-ed, and/or trade piece for publication. Circle members will work on their project at their own pace while supporting one another through the process, cheering successes, and sharing advice.