MENTOR PROGRAM

General Policy

The purpose of a Mentor Program is to provide any Eastern faculty member - instructional or administrative support - with an opportunity to seek professional advice, assistance, guidance, and support from another Eastern faculty member in a positive, constructive, and confidential manner.

The goal of the program is to assist a faculty member to become a successful part of Eastern.

• Participation in the Mentor Program is voluntary on the part of both the faculty member and the faculty mentor with the exception of new regular instructional faculty members who will, at the beginning of their first term, be assigned a faculty mentor by their School Dean.
• The relationship is confidential and the mentor agrees that he/she will never participate in any institutional personnel action involving the faculty member unless required by law.
• At the beginning of each Fall term, the school Deans will solicit voluntary mentors from appropriate faculty. For the purposes of this policy, "appropriate faculty" is any full-time Eastern faculty who has completed at least one year of continuous service as a faculty member at Eastern.
• Any instructional faculty member who desires a mentor may consult with the Dean of his/her School or may approach any faculty member on the mentor list. For new regular instructional faculty, the School Dean will consider both those who have volunteered as mentors and other possibilities in determining the best possible mentor for new faculty; any potential mentor so selected by the Dean may decline to be a mentor. If a mentor relationship is struck, then the faculty member must make that known to the Dean of his/her School. Administrative faculty seeking a mentor should consult with their supervisor or Vice President. Normally, a mentor relationship will last no longer than an academic year. The faculty member or the mentor may opt to terminate the relationship at any time without prejudice or penalty to either. If the relationship is terminated, the mentor will make that known to the Dean of his/her School.
• A mentor may work with no more than one faculty member per term within an academic year.

[Responsible for Accuracy: John S. Miller, Provost - Last Verified: 7/27/00]