The Department as Mentor [electronic resource] / Samuel L. Becker.
Too often, academic mentoring of young faculty is seen as an individual responsibility; further, advice and help are believed to flow in only one direction--from the older to the younger faculty member. In many institutions, each junior faculty member is paired with a senior faculty member, but this...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1995.
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| Summary: | Too often, academic mentoring of young faculty is seen as an individual responsibility; further, advice and help are believed to flow in only one direction--from the older to the younger faculty member. In many institutions, each junior faculty member is paired with a senior faculty member, but this type of arrangement is often fraught with resentment and personality conflict. Even when the one-on-one mentoring arrangement works, its benefits are limited because conceptually it fails to recognize the critical role of the community. Studies of communication show that the lessons from a single faculty member have little influence if they are not reinforced by the total community. In the ideal department everyone would have equal mentoring responsibilities. However, there are a number of impediments to such an ideal situation: (1) individuals are forced to compete for limited merit pay funds; (2) the tenure system and the current climate of litigation makes older faculty afraid to befriend junior faculty who might not receive tenure; (3) factions within departments threaten one another; (4) academic culture associates negativity with helping; it equates nitpicking and harshness with high standards. This is unfortunate since scholars in communication know that research suggests that he or she who helps others most is most helped; he or she who gives out information most receives most back. A narrative about a faltering monastery illustrates the point that everyone benefits when everyone helps everyone; a community of sharing and caring survives and prospers. (TB) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED384083. ERIC Note: Keynote address presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern States Communication Association (New Orleans, LA, April 5-9, 1995). |
| Physical Description: | 14 p. |