MERISTEM’s Develop Group is working to improve retention and promotion of faculty from historically excluded groups by creating a multifaceted mentoring network. Building on DU’s Mentoring and Onboarding Across Rank and Series (MOARS) symposium implementation team as well as successful mentoring strategies piloted by other NSF ADVANCE universities, Develop will create a structured mentoring program that acknowledges the variety of ways faculty need support.
Intersectionality and Mentoring
DU Develop has a special focus on the impact of intersectional identities on faculty’s efforts to progress their careers. As part of mentor training, Develop will work to address the systemic issues that lead lead to HEF—including women, especially women of color—bearing heavier burdens related to mentoring, teaching, and service than their peers.
Serve on and support the DU-DEVELOP sub group of the DU-MERISTEM grant,
Administer a “faculty mentoring fund” to help support faculty who agree to be trained as mentors,
Explore and implement innovative approaches to mentoring, such as peer-to-peer and micromentoring,
collaborate with the Faculty Fellow for Mentoring Initiatives in the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs (VPFA) Office on developing a campus-wide culture of inclusive mentoring,
Advise the departments/programs selected for the pilot DU-DEVELOP mentoring program.
A call will be sent out to all faculty and linked here when available.
Select departments will be invited in AY 2022–2023 to implement a mentoring model.
"It's about faculty feeling a sense of belonging, fit, and that they can thrive at DU. I don't just mean as a faculty member, but that also that there's a place for them as a whole person. And that they could commit to the work that they care about, be successful personally and professionally. Many successful DU faculty credit peer mentoring, like the Women in STEM group, with helping them stay at DU. We're hoping to expand and support that kind of ongoing work."
Alison Staudinger, MERISTEM ADVANCE Grant Co-PI and Director of Faculty Development and Career Advancement
Faculty Support Resources at DU
The following are initiatives and programs that originated before DU-MERISTEM and created its foundation. DU Develop builds from and is in coordination with these efforts.
MOARS grew out of the DU Symposium, an event hosted by the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs and the Faculty Senate with the goal of engaging in collective problem solving. MOARS promotes a more cohesive mentoring of all faculty, regardless of their rank or series.
Dr. Heather Martin joined the VPFA’s office as Faculty Fellow of Mentoring Initiatives (FFMI) in 2021. As FFMI, her mission is to collaborate with faculty mentors from across ranks and series on research-based mentoring initiatives that enrich faculty experiences, cultivate community, and promote faculty wellbeing.
Starting in Spring 2022, Dr. Martin convened a community of practice, a group of faculty-mentoring leaders for a six-month exploration of cross-identity mentoring at DU. Associate deans, directors, and other campus leaders were asked to identify faculty mentoring leaders in their areas, and fourteen faculty were selected based on their recommendations.
Over six months, faculty participants will engage various mentoring approaches discussed in the literature and locate innovative work happening on other campuses—including mentoring dyads, communities, circles, and various other approaches that attend to intersections of gender, race, and identity. The Community will share best practices, ideate new approaches, and foster cross-pollination across disciplines, ranks, series, and lines.
The MOARS Teaching and Professional Faculty group developed the Teaching and Professional Faculty Lifecycle as a tool for mentors and mentees as they consider the various stages of a faculty member’s career. The interactive timeline provides resources on a variety of topics as well as a general timeline to help faculty and their mentors with career planning.
In 2022–2023, as part of "R1 Our Way," DU faculty are invited to take part in compensated work to implement and assess this mentoring model. Learn more on the VPFA website.
For more information, contact Co-PI Alison Staudinger.
Go to the graduate admission application to submit your information. For information on admission requirements, visit the graduate academic programs page and locate your program of interest.
