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Thriving in Academe
Mentoring Junior Faculty
It’s a learnable process, but it doesn’t come easy.
By Gloria Pierce

Inexperienced faculty often feel overwhelmed by the demands of academic life; fortunately, senior faculty can help.

A juggling act! That’s how some professors describe life at the academy. Balancing the three traditional expectations of scholarship, teaching, and service can seem nearly impossible for new and junior faculty. During the past decade, colleges and universities have recognized their plight and have initiated various types of faculty development projects, many of which include mentoring as an integral part of the program. The impetus for these programs is, of course, not merely to make the lives of new faculty more manageable. They are also intended to bring benefits to the institution in the form of constructive retention of faculty, scholarly productivity, and better classroom teaching and learning.

The lifeblood of any valued faculty development program is the experienced faculty who serve as mentors to their younger colleagues. Having a mentor helps to alleviate the stress, isolation, and loneliness that new and junior faculty so often experience. At the same time, the newcomer’s fresh outlook and current ideas can energize and enrich the senior professor. Good mentoring, however, does not come easy. It is a complex, though learnable, process that requires specific skills, attributes, and attitudes on the part of both mentor and protégé.

Meet Gloria Pierce
Gloria Pierce is a professor in the Department of Counseling, Human Development, and Educational Leadership at Montclair State University, where she directed a comprehensive faculty development program for new tenure-track faculty. The year-long program oriented new professors to the campus, introduced them to the university community, assisted them with their scholarly agendas, and helped them develop their teaching. As a counselor educator, Gloria teaches specialized courses in women’s issues and eco-therapy, with her research focus on feminist pedagogy. Her interest in mentoring is deeply personal, having had excellent mentors in her own life. Gloria can be contacted at Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 or by e-mail at pierceg@mail.montclair.edu.

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