Paper
Monday, November 5, 2007
504
Mentoring New Faculty: Mentor and Mentee Share Key Questions for First Faculty Interviews
Dorette Sugg Welk, PhD, MSN, RN, Department of Nursing, Faculty Emeritus, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA and University of Phoenix Online, Phoenix, AZ, USA and Patricia L. Thomas, PhD, MSN, RN, College of Health Professions-McAuley School of Nursing, University of Detroit-Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: state questions related to teaching, scholarship, and service for use in first-experience faculty position interviews. |
| Learning Objective #2: state reasons why actively preparing for an interview may yield more meaningful information for decision making and job satisfaction. |
What questions might a first-time candidate for a tenure-track university nursing faculty position wisely ask to best understand the new work setting and its responsibilities? Perhaps in this time of faculty shortage, more potential faculty might be attracted to a change from practice to academia if they knew what key questions to ask about this change. Job satisfaction and retention may be tied to understanding "what the job is really like" and asking the "right questions." The purpose of this session is to present questions from the perspectives of a long-time educator and a first-year educator as they worked together in a mentoring relationship prior to first interviews. Expected performance in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service will not be exactly the same from university to university but there are some common questions that would benefit a wide audience. A few examples are: how are clinical courses calculated for the workload? what support is available for development of course materials? how do activities beyond the university get incorporated into the workload equation, like professional organization involvement, community service, speakers bureau? is there formal mentoring? what financial support is available in the first year, like monies for conferences and grants? what percentage of faculty are tenured and promoted annually? if not, why not? how are off-campus positions viewed, like part-time teaching for another university online or working in a clinical position? if it exists, how does a union contract affect the position? how does the workload translate into a typical week? In this mentoring experience, the advice given and lessons learned may help other new faculty members make a positive transition to academic life. Experienced audience members' input regarding, "what question do you wish YOU had asked during your first faculty interviews?" will broaden this topic in the session.