Subject Guides: Faculty Mentoring Tool Kit: Discussion Prompts

Questions by Topic

How can you find and sustain collaborations across campus and outside the University?
What resources exist to find funding opportunities?
What centers or institutes could be beneficial, and how can you connect with them?
What are the expectations for external funding/grants?
If I have a specific question about a particular federal agency (i.e., NSF, NIH, NIFA, etc) is there someone outside my department I can contact?
What are steps and strategies to get student researchers back on track or discontinue poor performing students?
What are the advantages/disadvantages and best practices for including undergraduates in research?

What are the department and university teaching expectations?
What resources are available for class management and active learning? What support is available for teacher creativity and autonomy?
How to set-up online assignments and quizzes and rubrics to minimize grading time and effort?
How does Canvas work? What tips do you have for using online tools to reduce grading time and organizing your Canvas course?
How is teaching quality measured? What recognition is available for teaching excellence?
What strategies do you use to get valuable, actionable feedback from students throughout the term?
How do you process and act upon feedback from students from one term to the next?
How do you handle student issues in class, such as frequent absence, lack of participation, or late/missing work?
Are there resources on campus you can reach out to if you are concerned for the wellbeing of one of your students?
How do you encourage students to engage with assigned readings and hold students accountable for their assigned reading? Can you find ways to integrate the readings more deeply into your course, or connect them to life outside the classroom?
How do you effectively facilitate classroom discussions?

What are available strategies/boundaries to ensure healthy and happy balance?
How do you meet and form relationships with other faculty, especially with many people working hybrid schedules?
What support networks or community networks are available?
What childcare/dependent care leave options are available?
What university events are most impactful to attend and why?
How do you build connections with other faculty to discuss professional and personal development in an informal setting?
How do you best deal with seasonal changes, particularly work/life balance throughout the year?

What are good strategies to identify journals? What about effective distribution of manuscripts to journals for developing a strong promotion and tenure portfolio?
How do you avoid predatory journals?
How are journals ranked in my department? How should I decide where to publish my work?

What are the departmental service expectations for the first year and subsequent years?
What are recommendations on national service benefits (reputation, networking) and balance?
What are recommendations on local community service?
What should new faculty say yes to and what should say no to? Who in my department is the best person to help with identifying service requirements?
How do you find a healthy balance with service on campus?

What individual goals and strategies should the new faculty target to meet or exceed P&T requirements within their department?
How can new faculty set themselves up for success in the P&T process in their first year?
How does P&T differ across units? How do you best discern relevant advice from irrelevant advice?
Why have people not been promoted (received tenure) in this department? Are there any common themes?
What is the timeline and process for reviews and how can mentors help?
What are the steps and the process for tenure and promotion and at what stages can mentors provide guidance?
What is your plan for gathering evidence/documentation to put into your promotion file? How do you keep track of your materials?

Adapted in part from Michigan Tech's ECM Guiding Questions and Fort Hays State University's Faculty Mentoring Resources.

Below are some more general dialogue prompts to help spark conversation in your mentorship meetings:

What are some high points or challenges you've encountered since we last talked?
Do you feel that you're growing? Why or why not?
- What about progress towards specific goals?
Tell me about a difficulty you've experienced. How did you deal with it?
- What in your response was effective?
- What might you do differently in the future?
What is working well for you in this mentoring experience so far? What could we adjust to meet your needs better?