Library Faculty Mentoring Program

Roles and Expectations

All Participants in the UL mentoring program will:
  • Meet promptly after being assigned as mentor/mentee.
  • Establish ground rules using the Mentoring Partnership agreement at their first meeting for their formal mentoring relationship, including:
    • The confidentiality of the information shared with and by the mentor.
    • Which activities are optional (e.g., co-authoring articles, sponsoring the mentee for service opportunities).
    • Meeting frequency (revisit agreement annually).
    • Shared commitment to addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
    • Clarify that the mentor will guide the mentee but is not responsible for the outcome of promotion and tenure actions. Mentoring is not orientation, nor is it intended to substitute for orientation that may take place at the unit, library, or university level.
  • Continue to address issues of diversity and engage in conversations about diversity as appropriate.
  • Practice active listening skills.
  • Be candid and constructive about their work, the UL and UIC.
  • Participate in an end-of-year reflection process.
Mentees will:
  • Review faculty profiles and make contact for appropriate introductions to the two mentor options provided by the University Librarian, EC, and mentoring coordinator
    • Make selection of mentor based on this information
  • If the mentee is expected to do research: Will assume their role as a faculty member and take the lead in developing their own research agenda, including setting and meeting goals.
  • Will document accomplishments in service and librarianship, including annual reviews and preparation of personal statements, vitas, and supplemental materials.
  • If the mentee is expected to teach: Will obtain an appropriate number of teaching evaluations if they have instruction responsibilities at UIC.
  • Will be aware that in some situations their mentor may need to make referrals to other faculty or outside resources with more expertise.
Mentors will:
  • Meet with potential mentees as part of the pairing process
  • Review the checklist of new faculty hires at the beginning of each new mentee/mentor relationship.
  • If the mentee is expected to do research: Help the mentee understand the library's expectations and norms concerning research, publication, and service, the nature of scholarship and research, the peer review process, and journal rankings.
    1. The mentor will stress the importance of creating a unified body of work so that the mentee will come to be recognized as having impact in a given field.
    2. When the mentee has developed a research idea, the mentor will provide the guidance needed or recommend other faculty to help with statistics, research methodologies, and vetting stages of the project and manuscript, as needed.
  • If the mentee is expected to teach: Stress the need for collecting student evaluations.
  • Facilitate a meeting with the mentee, mentee’s supervisor, and mentor during the mentee’s first year at the Library to discuss norms and expectations of “excellence” in that position
  • Create and maintain a shared online storage space for storing mentoring agreement, goals, annual reflection, etc.
  • Serve as the second paper preparer (documentation liaison) for the candidate's case at 6Y or promotion.