Teaching Mentorship Program brought to you by the Committee on Teaching Development (TDC)

What is the Teaching Mentorship Program? It is a mentorship program in which junior faculty make connections with experienced faculty volunteers to get constructive feedback on their teaching. The TDC facilitates this connection by posting lists of volunteers on the TDC web page (or to a paper list held by the area coordinator for education) who either visit classes to provide feedback or invite junior faculty to visit their own classes. Junior faculty who desire feedback consult the list and choose one or more volunteers to contact directly.

What are the benefits of the Teaching Mentorship Program? The contacts made within this program are confidential and the feedback is made in a non-evaluative setting. Faculty colleagues and administrators involved in future reappointment evaluations need not know these visits have occurred. In fact the TDC will not even know who has utilized this program. The Teaching Mentorship Program provides a mechanism for junior faculty to receive feedback on teaching from experienced and willing members of the faculty. You might choose simply to observe other faculty to see if their styles and practices can benefit you. You might choose instead to get constructive criticism on your own teaching style and practices from faculty who are ‘seasoned’ at their craft. The TDC hopes that this program will also foster connections between faculty that might otherwise not have been made.

How do junior faculty get help? Simply consult the list of volunteers on-line, or in the office of the area coordinator for education (Clementine Brasier, 355 Pettengill Hall). If you want to visit the classes of an experienced volunteer, contact a member from that list to arrange an appropriate time. If you would like a volunteer to visit your classes, contact someone on that list. Please always make contact with the volunteers. Do not just appear in their classes.

How do I become a volunteer? Contact the chair of the TDC (nkleckne) and state whether you are volunteering to have junior faculty to visit your classes or if you wish to provide feedback on theirs (or both). Your name will be posted on the TDC web site volunteer lists and on the paper lists kept in the office of the area coordinator for education. If you wish your name to be on only the electronic or paper versions of the lists, please let us know.