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Mentoring Program |
Table of Contents
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The Faculty Mentoring Program is administered by the Faculty Mentoring Committee, a subcommittee of the Faculty Development Committee.
The goal of the Faculty Mentoring Program is to provide sharing partnerships between experienced and less experienced faculty that will foster success in the classroom and encourage creativity in teaching. The program provides mentors for new full-time faculty and new part-time faculty, as well as for experienced faculty who wish to improve their skills in a specific area (e.g. working in distance learning). New department chairs, who have not taught at the College of Southern Maryland, may be mentored in classroom teaching but not in administration. Partnerships are established each year, depending upon funds available; priority is given to mentoring for new full-time faculty, but as many new part-time faculty as possible are included. Full-time faculty members are entitled to a second semester of mentoring if they want it.
Partnerships are currently available at all campuses. Every effort is made to establish partnerships on the same campus and within the same academic department. Any full-time or part-time faculty member with at least one year of experience at CSM is eligible to mentor, with the exception of department chairs. Faculty who supervise faculty in their discipline and report to the chairs (e.g. paralegal studies, early childhood development) may not serve as mentors in the discipline.
The mentoring program seeks the following outcomes:
1. Improved instruction
2. Increased exchange of ideas between new faculty and faculty members who have experience teaching at CSM
3. Enhanced understanding of the mission of the community college
4. Increased awareness of the diversity of our students
5. Shared strategies for student-centered learning
6. Increased support for new faculty, so that they enjoy their first semester and wish to continue teaching at CSM
Additional benefits: A working luncheon for mentors and partners is provided at the close of each semester. Workshops on mentoring are offered on an irregular basis. Full-time faculty members receive two service units and are paid $150 per semester for mentoring. Full-time faculty members receive one service unit as partners (if they choose to list the partnership on their development plans). The mentor coordinator is paid $250 per semester.
The committee will administer an anonymous evaluation survey at the close of each semester to both the mentor and partner. The results will be tabulated by the coordinator and submitted to the committee. Revisions to the program will be made on the basis of these evaluations.
Contacting the Mentor Coordinator
The coordinator acts as the liaison between the committee and the mentors and partners, in order to preserve confidentiality. Currently, the coordinator is Bruce Fried, Professor of Business. He can be reached at 301-934-7515 or <BruceF@csmd.edu>. His interdepartmental mail designation is BUS.
The mentor's chief responsibility is to work with the partner to assess his or her needs, so that together they can formulate goals and plans for meeting those needs.
Other responsibilities include:
The partner's chief responsibility is to participate fully in the dialogue with the mentor, so that goals and plans they agree upon are effective.
Other responsibilities include:
The First Meeting
The following are especially important topics to cover in the initial meeting, if time permits. If time is short, items 6 & 7 could be pushed to the second meeting but should be covered as soon as possible.
1. Reviewing mentor booklet and completing mentor/partner agreement forms (see pp. 6-7)
2. Exchanging contact information and meeting times that fit into your schedules
3. Discussion of how to draft a syllabus
(Bring a syllabus of your own and offer to review the partner’s syllabus. Be sure s/he is aware of the requirements for syllabi that are found on the syllabus checklist in the part-time and full-time faculty handbooks.)
4. Discussion of the partner’s prior teaching/training experience as it relates to teaching methods that will serve the diverse needs of CSM student
5. Activities for the first day of class
6. Characteristics of CSM students
7. Survival Checklist
(See Mentoring Partnership Development Plan)
College forms, esp. G & A sheets, Incomplete contracts, Incident/accident reports
Resources and services available to support both faculty and students, such as the Safe Communities Center
Meeting deadlines for budget requests, faculty development plans, student grades, etc.
Faculty senate, SEB, faculty committees
Pedagogical Concerns
Faculty Statement on General Education
Matching teaching strategies to different learning styles
Teaching adult learners
Devising and evaluating assignments
Handling disruptive students
Encouraging collaborative learning
Structuring group discussions
Contributing to the college's efforts to increase participation of male students and of female students in all disciplines
CSM student demographics (as identified in latest College Fact Book) and their implications for instruction
Constructing unit tests and final exams
Using multi-media equipment and new technology to enhance learning
Using computers to assist instruction
Using different assessment procedures
Role of the college in the community
Alternative course-delivery systems, such as distance learning, Web-based courses, and non-standard time formats
Fostering communication and active learning in the online classroom
Reviewing different online tools available to meet the needs of students
Sample Goals for Teaching & Means of Assessment
(See Mentoring Partnership Development Plan)
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Goal: |
Develop an effective syllabus |
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Assessment: |
Record number of student questions, incidents of confusion |
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Apply syllabus checklist (in faculty handbook) |
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Goal: |
Encourage effective collaborative learning |
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Assessment: |
Evaluate quality of student projects produced collaboratively |
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Monitor student level of satisfaction |
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Goal: |
Develop effective methods for assessing student performance |
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Assessment: |
Evaluate validity and reliability of assessments in relation to concepts and information covered in course |
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Plot Bell curves for results of each assessment |
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Goal: |
Involve students in discussion
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Assessment: |
Record number of students contributing to class discussion |
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Mentoring Program |
20 September 2007