Diverse Junior Faculty Mentoring Program seeks faculty mentors and mentees

The Diverse Junior Faculty Mentoring Program (DJFMP), sponsored by the Division of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, invites applications for its 2020-21 cohort. Now in its second year, the DJFMP is designed to support early-career faculty with diverse identities in their academic careers.

Interested faculty members should apply online by Friday, Sept. 25.

The program, coordinated by Dr. Jan Huebenthal, pairs full-time junior faculty members (including tenure-track, instructional and clinical faculty) with senior faculty members who have volunteered to collaboratively offer professional guidance to their mentee on individual developmental goals. Such goals may include research and teaching strategies, tips for mentoring undergraduate students, building a professional network at OHIO and beyond, grant-writing and conference presentations.

Additional professional development opportunities, including an interdisciplinary roundtable on tenure and promotion, are also being planned.

“The Diverse Junior Faculty Mentoring Program is a key initiative at Ohio University,” said Dr. Howard Dewald, associate vice provost for faculty and academic planning. “It offers a welcoming opportunity for new faculty toward their career and life goals and in the communities in which each work and live. We hope to make meaningful connections and ease the entry into the academic world toward effective and productive teaching and research, scholarship and creative activity, as well as being an engaged colleague and student advisor.”

Mentor-mentee pairs are often interdisciplinary but commonly remain within the same college or school. The 2019-20 cohort had faculty participants from departments, schools and colleges that included Modern Languages, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Economics, Education, Health Sciences and Professions, Film and Communication Studies.

The term “diverse faculty” is deliberately broad and encompasses members of traditionally underrepresented and marginalized groups in the academy, including faculty members of color; international, LGBTQ+ and Appalachian faculty; women; and faculty members with disabilities; as well as faculty with other intersecting lived experiences and identities.

“Diverse faculty are vital to OHIO’s student-centered educational mission to create learning environments in which all members of our campus community grow and thrive. Especially during our current challenging times, the DJFMP is a great tool to build connections and support our faculty on their professional journey at OHIO,” said Dr. Gigi Secuban, vice president for diversity and inclusion.

Research shows that faculty members with diverse identities often encounter challenges to their professional success and well-being, especially so early in their academic careers. Mentorship can be an effective tool for engaging and empowering diverse junior faculty while bringing benefits for faculty mentors.

“Participating in the DJFMP as a mentor has been rewarding in more ways than one and it has certainly contributed to my professional development,” said Dr. Muriel Gallego, associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages. “Mentoring matters, for both the mentor and the mentee, and that is why I hope more diverse junior and senior faculty members join the program. To my fellow current and future mentors: we probably need extra support during these unprecedented times and so do our mentees. I encourage you to exercise self-awareness as a starting point and to always keep the end goal in mind: we need diverse faculty, we need diverse students and we need to work collaboratively for this.”

• As an early career (instructional, clinical and/or pre-tenure) full-time faculty member at OHIO, you should consider applying as a mentee to
  • Experience a greater sense of belonging to OHIO’s intellectual and campus community
  • Build a professional network across fields and departments
  • Develop greater confidence in your career trajectory, sense of professional goals, timelines and requirements.
• As a senior (tenured) faculty member at OHIO, you should consider applying as a mentor to
  • Build collaboration and interaction across disciplines and departments
  • Help support a junior colleague’s professional success at OHIO and beyond
  • Become exposed to new impulses, emerging trends and ideas

Please contact Dr. Jan Huebenthal at huebenthal@ohio.edu with any questions.