THE WOMEN'S FACULTY NETWORK MENTORING PROGRAM

 

The purpose of the WFN Mentoring Program is to enhance the likelihood of effective mentoring at Texas A&M University. To that end, the WFN pairs senior, established faculty with incoming assistant professors in a mentoring partnership.

 

All incoming female faculty are contacted at the beginning of the semester and invited to participate in the program.  Alternatively, new faculty can contact Kim Zemanek, Mentoring Program Coordinator, (wfnmentoring@tamu.edu) at any point during the year to indicate their interest.  New faculty women browse through the list of available mentors and links to mentors’ websites (see below). This enables new faculty women to select mentors with compatible interests and philosophies. Potential mentors are invited to participate in the program because of their own academic success, their commitment to diversity, their sensitivity to women's issues on campus.

 

Each semester, the Mentoring Program provides monetary support for pairs to meet for lunch at a local restaurant. In this way, mentors and mentees are able to discuss shared interests in an informal setting at a time that is convenient to them.

 

Qualities Of A Good Mentor

 

   Advocacy - A mentor should be willing to argue in support of the mentee for space, funds, and students.

   Accessibility - A mentor must make time to be available to the mentee. A mentor might keep in contact by dropping by, calling, sending e-mail, or inviting the mentee to lunch. A mentor should make time to ask questions, read proposals and papers, and periodically review the mentee’s progress.

   Networking - A mentor should have enough experience and contacts to be able to help establish a professional network for the mentee.

   Respect - A mentor must respect the mentee as a professional colleague and promote her independence and decision-making autonomy.

 

 

Mentor Responsibilities

 

LONG-TERM GOALS

      Ask key questions:

   What should the professional profile of the mentee be?

   Where should the mentee be in her career during the first 3 years?

   How can the mentor facilitate this?

 

Discuss relevant issues including:

   The department or college's typical criteria for promotion and tenure,  and any flexibility that exists in the promotion  and tenure schedule.

   Acceptable ranges of performance in various categories, including scholarship, publications, supervision of graduate students, presentations at conferences, funding, teaching, service, administrative duties, consulting, and collaborations with colleagues.

 

Advocate and advise:

   Inform other senior faculty of mentee's progress.

   Help the mentee develop multiple options for the future.

 

SHORT-TERM GOALS

   Help mentee sort out priorities (e.g., budgeting time, publications, teaching, setting up a lab for experimental work, and committees).

   Advise mentee on how to deal with difficulties (e.g., lab space, secretarial support, access to students).

   Network, introduce mentee to colleagues and identify other possible mentors for the mentee.

   Help mentee get research support (e.g., contacts, access to agencies).

   Note mentee's achievements, and inform colleagues of mentee's achievements.

   Suggest ways to say "no" to certain demands on mentee's time.

  

 

Selecting Mentors

 

 THE PROCESS

            To select a mentor, new faculty women should browse through the following list, where available mentors are denoted by an asterisk (*). Each has posted a link to a web page(s) excluding the library department. After following these links, new faculty are asked to send their three top choices (rank ordered) to Kim Zemanek at kzemanek@tamu.edu.  Pairings will be made on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

 

WFN MENTORS

Available

First Name

Last Name

Department

URL

*

Louise

Abbott

Veterinary Anatomy

http://recovery.tamu.edu/RecoveryFaculty/Abbott.htm

*

Robin

Abrams

Architecture

http://archone.tamu.edu/architecture/People/Directory/Faculty/

*

Gerianne

Alexander

Psychology

http://psychology.tamu.edu/Faculty.php

*

Mary

Alfred

Educational Admin & Human Resources

http://directory.cehd.tamu.edu/view.epl?nid=malfred

 

Sara

Alpern

History

http://www.tamu.edu/history/faculty/alpern.htm

 

Nancy

Amato

Computer Science

http://parasol.tamu.edu/~amato

*

Harriette

Andreadis

English

http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/andreadis/

*

Robin

Autenrieth

Civil Engineering

http://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/rautenrieth

*

Valerie

Balester

Writing Center - English

http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/about/people/

*

Judith

Ball

Vet Med - Pathobiology

http://vtpb-www.cvm.tamu.edu/people/ball07.html

*

Sherry

Bame

Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning

http://archone.tamu.edu/laup/People/Faculty/faculty_profile/Bame.html

*

Sarah

Bednarz

Geography

http://geography.tamu.edu/index.php?pid=75&option=com_content&task=view&id=250&Itemid=192

*

Deborah

Bell-Pedersen

Biology

http://www.bio.tamu.edu/FACMENU/FACULTY/Bell-PedersenD.htm

 

Ludy

Benjamin

Psychology

http://people.tamu.edu/~l-benjamin/

*

Nandini

Bhattacharya

English

http://www-english.tamu.edu/index.php?id=229

*

Susan

Bloomfield

Health and Kinesiology

http://hlknweb.tamu.edu/faculty/bloomfield.asp

 

Cynthia

Bouton

History

http://www.tamu.edu/history/faculty/bouton.htm

*

Kimberly

Brown

English

http://www-english.tamu.edu/index.php?id=153

*

Karen

Butler-Purry

Electrical Engineering

http://www.ece.tamu.edu/People/bios/bbutlerl.html

*

M.

Castell-Perez

Agricultural Engineering

http://baen.tamu.edu/users/castell/Castell/Elena.html

*

Linda

Castillo

Educational Psychology

http://directory.cehd.tamu.edu/view.epl?nid=lcastillo

*

Sila

Cetinkaya

Industrial Engineering

http://ise.tamu.edu/people/faculty/Cetinkaya/default.htm

*

Yoosoon

Chang

Economics

http://econweb.tamu.edu/ychang.asp

 

Judith

Chester

Geology

http://geoweb.tamu.edu/RFaculty/gng/chester_judi/index.html

*

Colleen

Cook

Libraries

http://wfn.tamu.edu/MiscMentoring/Cook Bio 2007.htm

*

Olga

Cooke

European & Classical Languages

http://euro.tamu.edu/people/faculty/o-cooke.html

*

Marcetta

Darensbourg

Chemistry

http://www.chem.tamu.edu/faculty/faculty_detail.php?ID=38

*

Sumana

Datta

Biochemistry & Biophysics

http://biochemistry.tamu.edu/?ch=faculty&sec=name&pp=datta

*

Emily

Davidson

Psychology

http://psychology.tamu.edu/Fac_Ext.php?ID=132

 

Kim

Dooley

Ag Leadership Education

http://people.aged.tamu.edu/faculty/dooley-k.asp

*

Donnalee

Dox

Performance Studies

http://performancestudies.tamu.edu/facultyStaff/index.php

 

Lorraine

Eden

Management

http://www.voxprof.com

 

Christine

Ehlig-Economides

Petroleum Engineering

http://www.pe.tamu.edu/economides/index.html

*

Marian

Eide

English

http://www-english.tamu.edu/index.php?id=166

*

Lisa

Ellis

Political Science

http://www-polisci.tamu.edu/faculty/ellis/

*

Maria

Escobar-Lemmon

Political Science

http://www-polisci.tamu.edu/faculty/escobar-lemmon/

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