Maximizing Mentoring: Enhancing the Impact of Mentoring Programs and Initiatives Through the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development at Xavier University of Louisiana

Abstract

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development (CAT+FD) at Xavier University of Louisiana (Xavier) is the stage for a unique model for multiple levels of mentor training and mentoring. The model is made up of four essential components that are necessary to enhance the outcomes of any mentoring initiatives. First, the Institution must be committed to supporting mentoring intitiatives with institutional resources and maintaining a culture that promotes the importance of mentoring for institutional success. Second, mentoring efforts must be directed through a trusted institutional unit that has earned the respect and buy-in of the institutional community. Well-trained people who are committed to developing expertise in effectively administering mentoring initiatives make up the third element of this model. The model is complete with the addition of evidence-based mentoring practices, initiatives and programs that provide the institutional community with resources, training and support for their mentoring. At Xavier, the mentoring culture that was established at the institution’s founding has been formalized through a variety of initiatives targeting students, faculty and staff. These initiatives are administered from CAT+FD, a center with a 25-year history at Xavier and a campus reputation of expertise, excellence and trustworthiness. The work of two CAT+FD staff members, the STEM Educational Improvement Specialist (EIS) and the Faculty-in-Residence for New Faculty (FIR), is described in this chapter. The EIS directs a variety of mentoring initiatives focused on students, faculty and staff, while the mentoring initiatives overseen by the FIR are specifically geared towards supporting new faculty.

A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.

- Oprah Winfrey

Mentoring matters! This truth has been demonstrated in every context from sports and business to entertainment and education. I have constructed my favorite definition of mentoring from a variety of sources and my own experiences. I view mentoring as a personal and professional relationship between individuals in which one uses their own experiences to guide another person through an experience that requires growth and development.^1,2 However, how one defines mentoring is personal, and despite the existence of proven universal principles for effective mentoring, the practice of mentoring is uniqe to each individual. Consequently, mentoring at Xavier University of Louisiana (Xavier) involves a unique approach comprised of a cocktail of institutional units, initiatives and individuals that are strategically positioned to create a formal mentoring environment that benefits the entire Xavier community. These components include: 1) the Institution; 2) the Center; 3) the Human Resources; and 4) the Programs and Initiatives. This chapter will discuss these components and how they work in concert to maximize the impact of mentoring at Xavier.

The Institution

Xavier is a historically Black and Catholic university established by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) in 1925. Saint Katharine Drexel (Mother Katharine at the time) and the SBS sought to create Catholic-oriented educational institutions reaching from primary through post-secondary levels that were accessible to the African American community. The SBS established elementary schools, a high school, and a Normal School, which evolved into Xavier University of Louisiana.³ These educational institutions exposed the community to teachers and other positive role models with the ultimate goal that its alumni would become leaders, educators and mentors to improve their communities and enhance the lives of the people in them.⁴ Mother Katharine and the SBS understood the importance of reaching students from the early stages of life through adulthood. Xavier was established within this context to promote stewardship, leadership and service. Xavier’s mission – “… to contribute to the promotion of a more just and humane society by preparing its students to assume roles of leadership and service in a global society.”⁵ – continues to reflect its founders’ vision. Xavier demonstrates its commitment to the fulfillment of its mission to create a more just and humane society through purposeful and intentional mentorship leading to an environment “where achievement has been the rule and beating the odds against success a routine occurrence.”

Faithful to one of its founding principles of mentorship, Xavier has maintained a strong culture of mentorship throughout its history. This culture is so strong and pervasive that it guides the collective expectations and responsibilities of the entire Xavier community – faculty, staff, students and alumni. At Xavier, mentoring embodies the education, support and guidance of each student who enters the University, for the cultivation and development of his/her expertise in his/her field of study, leadership and service. Mentoring is a multi-faceted practice that is made up of faculty-student, faculty-faculty, staff-student, faculty-staff, staff-staff, staff-faculty and student-student paradigms. This structure provides a strong framework that supports cooperativity and success throughout the campus community. An institutional climate that encourages and supports mentoring is vital in ensuring that mentoring-related initiatives are given the best possible chance of success.

The Center

Established in 1994 by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT) was created as a stand-alone unit at Xavier that was under the direct supervision of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. At its inception, CAT existed to fulfill its mission “to advance the art and science of teaching and learning” in support of the Xavier’s greater mission. In Fall 2014, CAT marked its 20th anniversary, and in honor of this milestone and to better support Xavier’s mission, CAT expanded its services to embrace not only a teaching-specific focus, but to support the faculty in all areas of responsibility – teaching, mentoring, scholarship, service, and work/life balance. The mission was revised to state explicitly the Center’s ultimate goal – the promotion of Xavier’s “mission through the development of faculty across all career stages and areas of professional responsibility.”⁶ This expansion was intended to provide comprehensive faculty development utilizing a teacher-scholar model and also necessitated a change to the name of the Center to the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development (CAT+FD).

Today, to carry out its mission, CAT+FD undertakes a variety of initiatives, which fall under one or more of the categories related to 1) pedagogy; 2) scholarship; 3) work/life balance; and 4) mentoring. The importance of the on-campus reputation of CAT+FD cannot go unmentioned as it relates to the success of the initiatives of the Center. It is known as a place where faculty can seek evidence-based help, information and advice in any of the areas of faculty responsibility, including work/life balance. The Center fosters an environment of transparency and cooperativity by working closely with various units and offices on campus on a variety of initiatives. It also offers a confidential environment devoid of judgement, which is essential for those who would not, without this environment, seek to participate in CAT+FD.

For many years, CAT+FD has used faculty participation in its events, programs and initiatives as one of the metrics by which to guage its effectiveness. The Center has consistently enjoyed high faculty participation, with no less than 59% participation over the past five academic years (Figure 1). This reputation and level of participation is an integral part of the foundation for successful initiatives. As important, the people who carry out these initiatives perform a critical role in strengthening the mentoring framework at Xavier.

Figure 1.

Faculty Participation in CAT+FD. Shown is the percentage of full-time faculty who participated in at least one CAT+FD event from AY 2013–14 to AY 2017–18.

The Human Resources

Faculty participation in CAT+FD initiatives is, in part, attributable to the artful and engaging human resources within the Center, specifically by modeling the translation of theory to practice through mentoring faculty. CAT+FD staff use comprehensive facilities, resources and initiatives to foster an environment that is non-judgemental, safe, collaborative, and supportive of faculty. The Center provides faculty the tools, space and time for self-reflection and continuous improvement. The Center’s staff serve as support for faculty in the development of their pedagogical skills while also providing the mentoring needed to support their career progression.

The STEM Educational Improvement Specialist (EIS)

The Center became very active on campus following Hurricane Katrina and the hiring of a new full-time, enthusiastic and energetic Director. The idea of the STEM Educational Improvement Specialist (EIS) position was conceptualized and implemented to develop a bridge between the Center and the STEM departments at Xavier. As of Fall 2018, 54% of all undergraduate students were STEM majors. Also, nearly 35% of all full-time faculty were members of STEM departments. These statistics have remained much the same since Hurricane Katrina. Consequently, in 2011, the EIS position was established to provide a resource previously missing on campus, a STEM-specific source of information on evidence-based pedagogical practices. The presence of a STEM-specific resource in CAT+FD made the Center’s offerings more relevant to the STEM disciplines and attracted more of the STEM faculty to the Center.

It was clear that, generally, STEM faculty have a different approach to learning, and are looking for precise, data-driven and scientifically-proven concepts and pedagogical practices that are presented in a clear and practical manner. The presence of the EIS in CAT+FD slowly changed the campus culture and opened new lines of communication. The EIS serves as a pedagogical resource for STEM faculty, designs and conducts workshops regarding effective teaching and learning strategies, and disseminates information on pedagogical resources and successes. In 2014, funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Program provided the institution with an immense opportunity to expand the purvue of the services of CAT+FD.

Over the past four years, the EIS position has gone through a metamorphosis that broadened the focus of the position to include the conception, development and implementation of mentoring programs and initiatives targeting faculty and staff, both internal and external to Xavier. The EIS postion has further evolved to include extensive support of faculty in non-STEM disciplines. Although CAT+FD is a center for faculty development, student mentoring initiatives are also administered through the Center because they are directed by the EIS. A position dedicated specifically to mentoring initiatives has facilitated the maintenance and improvement of the mentoring culture upon which Xavier was established.

The Faculty-In-Residience for New Faculty (FIR)

The driving force for creating the Faculty-In-Residence for New Faculty (FIR) position was the increasing demands placed on university faculty, especially early career faculty. Today’s professors are faced with a number of changes in roles, responsibilities and methodologies of achieving success. New faculty are entering academia during a time when there is change in the professoriate, student body, teaching, learning and scholarship,⁷ and there is a need to survive in this evolving climate. The university is tasked with developing the strategies necessary to accomplish these goals and helping new faculty find balance in academia. CAT+FD has implemented a model to assist in overcoming the challenges of a newly-appointed faculty position.

Mentoring is a form of faculty development, and a key component of the FIR position is to mentor. Effective mentoring can improve faculty retention; increase commitment by effectively integrating new faculty in the university;⁸ increase research productivity; enhance teaching effectiveness; and promote a more positive organizational climate.^9–11 Mentoring can also help to eliminate the perceived organizational barriers experienced by new faculty.^9,12 The role of the FIR must be carried out by someone who has achieved certain milestones in regards to their mentoring, teaching, tenure, engagement with the Center’s and the University’s mission and their on-campus reputation. These qualities are key because the FIR’s primary responsibility is to guide new faculty by modeling the behaviors that will enhance their career progression. One of the most crucial roles of the FIR is to address social-environmental factors such as time management, clarifying and managing expectations and fostering a sense of belonging to aid in new faculty success.

Support for successfully navigating these social-environmental factors has been embedded into the mentoring structure for the benefit of new faculty.

Being a new faculty is both exciting and stressful. They are faced with integrating with and navigating through the campus community. A key to helping new faculty overcome the challenges of a newly-appointed faculty position is strong mentorship by the FIR.⁷ Having this model embedded in a cultural organization like CAT+FD fosters the sustainability and enhancement of new faculty development.¹¹

The Programs and Initiatives

The Preparing Mentors and Advisors at Xavier (P-MAX) mentor training program, Entering Research at Xavier University of Louisiana (ER XULA) mentee training program, Mentor-to-Mentee (M²M) mentee training program, and New Faculty Mentoring program represent initiatives that have been designed to formalize and institutionalize Xavier’s mentoring culture.

Preparing Mentors and Advisors at Xavier (P-MAX)

P-MAX is a mentor training program that is based on the Entering Mentoring curriculum designed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.¹³ It is designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to mentor and advise undergraduate students, particularly those students engaged in research. Ultimately, the goal of P-MAX is to support mentors in developing effective relationships with their mentees. A complete program cycle runs over the course of one calendar year – from July to June. It begins in the summer with an intensive, day-long workshop, followed by three additional one-hour workshops during each of the subsequent fall and spring semesters. The schedule of the year-long program was determined based on the ebbs and flows of the academic year at Xavier with the intent to maximize participation. In the day-long summer workshop, foundational topics such as developing a mentoring philosophy; effective communication; goal- and expectation-setting; and implicit bias and stereotype threat as they relate to mentoring are addressed.

Topics requested or suggested by participants are reserved for the hour-long semester workshops. This approach is intentional because the summer session allows the presentation and discussion of those universal topics that are critical to establishing and maintaining effective mentoring relationships. Offering the semester sessions on ad hoc topics is an efficient means to respond to the curiosities and needs of our participants through on-demand programming. Topics presented in the semester sessions include self-affirmation as a mentoring tool; a practical view of an effective mentoring relationship; mentee discussion panels; and growth and fixed mindsets in mentoring. With this approach, participation remains high due to new subject matter that is driven by participant interests. Also, new content, such as creating a mentoring portfolio and mentoring in a crisis, is continuously produced and added to the program. For these reasons, no two program years have been the same. Case studies are the foundation for most of the P-MAX programming and are used to stimulate discussion on the topic being addressed. The case studies used and other content come from the Entering Mentoring series^13,14 and the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Research Experiences (CIMER)¹⁵. However, some of the richest discussion occur when participants share their own real-world experiences.

Developing an evidence-based program like P-MAX requires access to a robust amount of resources and support. These have been provided in the form of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN)¹⁶, CIMER and the people who work on behalf of these organizations. The goal of NRMN is to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in biomedical research careers through effective mentorship. NRMN offers train-the-trainer workshops that provide practice facilitating mentor and mentee trainings as well as resources and guidance for developing the content of trainings. Additionally, NRMN offers mentoring programs and resources to individuals at levels ranging from undergraduate and postdoctoral to faculty and administrators. The goal of CIMER is to offer a repository of curricular, training and evaluation resources as well as trained experts who will assist in mentoring trainings and program implementations. With the treasure trove of resources available, there is never a reason to “reinvent the wheel” when attempting to enhance the mentoring environment at any institution. Enhancing that environment includes training the next generation of mentors in the M²M program.

Mentee-to-Mentor (M²M)

The M²M Program is a year-long program that was designed specifically to support a group of freshly minted Xavier graudates. In pursuit of the goal of Xavier’s BUILD program – to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the biomedical research workforce – Xavier created a program for graduates with great potential for graduate-level studies, but who lacked full preparedness to pursue that path. The Post-baccaulaureate Technician Program (PTP) offers those graduates one-year, full-time research staff positions and provides them with research training and opportunities for networking and developing their scientific communication skills. As PTP progressed, there was the realization that the Technicians exist in a unique career space as they continue to operate in the role of mentee to their research mentors as well as transition into the role of mentor to undergraduate students who have started on the pathway to a research career. The need to support the Technicians in this space led to the development of M²M.

The program consists of regularly-occurring meetings, workshops and activities that are designed to provide the Technicians with support, in the form of knowledge and skills, to successfully navigate the challenges of transitioning from student-mentee to mentee-colleague-mentor. Program activities include targeted support for the graduate school application process (e.g., drafting personal statements and mock interviews); professional development (e.g., pedagogical and grant-writing training); and programming to support the day-to-day responsibilities and experiences of the Technicians (e.g., workshops on taking initiative and owning their projects; going above and beyond what is required, building confidence, and a healthy work/life balance). To support the Technicians in their mentoring, panel discussions are held with the Technicians for the benefit of faculty and staff to highlight effective ways to mentor them, as well as with students to allow Technicians to pass along the lessons learned to their near-peer undergraduate mentees. ER-XULA is a means to pass along important mentoring lessons, especially the lesson that becoming a good mentor starts with learning to be a good mentee.

Entering Research at Xavier University of Louisiana (ER XULA)

ER XULA is a series of mentee training workshops designed to escort undergraduate students into and through the undergraduate research experience. The workshops were implemented as a part of Xavier’s BUILD program, but students from any research training program or students who are just conducting research are welcome and encouraged to participate. The design and content of the workshops are based on Entering Research: A Facilitator’s Manual developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most of the sessions are facilitated by the EIS, however, guest speakers are invited to facilitate sessions on particular subjects. For example, the session on stress and time management is facilitated by a professional from Xavier’s Counseling and Wellness Center. Other sessions focus on a variety of topics revolving around the students’ research experience. These include selecting a mentor; elevator speeches; preparing poster and oral presentations; ethics; scientific reading and writing; and developing a sense of belonging.

There are a total of ten 90-minute sessions, with three sessions held in the spring semester and the remaining seven held in the summer. The three spring sessions are strategically placed to support students as they go throught the mentor selection process. When ER XULA sessions were first implemented, students were matched with mentors with only minimal input on the selection process. However, allowing students to interview at least three potential mentors and accept or reject a candidate, has yielded more satisfactory mentoring matches. ER XULA is designed to impart, to the student, information, confidence and exposure to help them understand that they: 1) have a role and a responsibility in ensuring the success of the mentoring relationship; 2) are empowered to speak on their own behalf to direct their research journey; and 3) have a place in the biomedical research community.

New Faculty Mentoring Initiative

Faculty mentorship is a collaborative learning process that draws upon the knowledge of a variety of faculty who provide guidance to new faculty entering the professoriate or to senior faculty members pursuing a new role.¹⁷ The mentorship provided through the FIR is intertwined with CAT+FD activities, programs and initiatives. The activities conducted through this initiative include direct mentoring of new faculty; facilitating new faculty mentoring by departmental colleagues and other memebers of the Xavier community; organizing and facilitating the New Faculty Brown Bag Series (Brown Bag Series); organizing and facilitating workshops addressing subjects that are important to new faculty but open to all faculty; assisting with developing grant proposals for initiatives related to first year faculty development; and assisting in the assessment of programs related to first year faculty development. (Figure 2)

Figure 2.

New Faculty Mentoring Structure. Shown is the relationship between the various components of the New Faculty Mentoring initiative.

Resources provided to new faculty by the FIR include information pertinent to tenure and promotion, the organization and the history of the university. The time that new faculty spend with the FIR, via one-on-one mentoring, the Brown Bag Series and workshops is critical to the success of new faculty. One-on-one mentoring provides a formal mechanism for new faculty to receive guidance, and provides a forum for faculty to speak candidly outside of their department with someone who is not involved in their tenure review process. The FIR addresses the needs and interests of new faculty across the spectrum of faculty responsibility. However, FIR mentoring is supplemented by departmental mentors who can address the inner workings and culture of the department. The FIR facilitates the identification and matching of departmental mentors.

In addition to one-on-one mentoring, new faculty participate in the monthly Brown Bag Series. The ultimate goal of the Series is to foster a sense of belonging that leads to faculty retention by supporting new faculty in navigating academic life. It provides opportunities to explore topics introduced at new faculty orientation; acquire skills and readiness relevant to faculty success and well-being; and gain access to institutional knowledge and university resources. Through the Brown Bag Series, the FIR provides professional development on how to remain compliant with faculty documentation requirements. The Series also provides a forum for new faculty to meet with different academic units and student support offices to gain critical institutional information such as navigating the grant writing process, accessing institutional resources to support student success and participating in committees and faculty associations and groups. The Series offers new faculty the opportunity to meet and network with university leaders, including the Provost and President. The sessions are small and informal and provide a comfortable environment for new faculty to ask questions and acquire information that will assist them throughout their academic career. This structure also supports a peer mentoring model where new faculty develop longitudinal mentoring relationships within the group.¹⁸

Along with the one-on-one mentoring and Brown Bag Series, the FIR plans and conducts workshops for new faculty. The workshops are designed to prepare new faculty for academic success in the classroom within the university and to encourage new faculty to incorporate evidence-based practices into their teaching and curricula. The workshop topics are driven by feedback from previous cohorts as well as the experiences and needs of the current faculty. The interactive workshops are designed to inform; collaboratively explore and share practical evidence-based practices on pedagogical themes; and inspire faculty members to explore new opportunities in their teaching.

In this role, the FIR: 1) assists new faculty in acclimating to the formal and informal norms of their department and the university; 2) fosters a sense of belonging in their new environment; 3) facilitates an understanding of and progression to tenure and promotion; 4) provides tools and strateigies to enhance teaching, mentoring and advising; and 5) fosters an atmosphere of collegiality and community.

The Impact

P-MAX

The Xavier community has embraced the mentoring culture as evidenced by the exceptional participation in the P-MAX program since its inception in summer 2015. There have been three complete program cycles, and the fourth cycle is in progress. P-MAX has undergone substantial revision from the first cycle based on data collected. The effectiveness of P-MAX is measured by: 1) participation in program events; 2) CAT+FD event evaluations; 3) a 26-item pre/post workshop self-assessment; and 4) the experiences of the students mentored by P-MAX-trained mentors, as measure by a trainee self-assessment. See ER XULA section below.

To date, one hundred ten (110) Xavier faculty have participated in at least one P-MAX event, which represents 49% of Xavier’s full-time faculty. (Table 1) Additionally, 51 staff and three non-Xavier participants have participated in at least one P-MAX event, and 62 of those have completed the full-day workshop. The pre/post self-assessment is administered just prior to the start of the P-MAX program year and again approximately nine months later after completion of all programming. P-MAX participants report significant increases in both mentoring skills and confidence as a mentor from pre- to post-program. (Table 2)

Table 1.

P-MAX Program Participation.

Mentor Type	Participants
Faculty	110 (49%)
Staff	51
Non-Xavier	3

Shown is the number of unique faculty, staff and non-Xavier individuals who have participated in at least on P-MAX event since program inception in 2015.

Table 2.

Mentors Pre/Post Outcomes.

Domain	% Increase
Skills	18%
Confidence	12%

Shown is the percent change in the self-reported mentoring skills and confidence in mentors before and after participation in the P-MAX program.

Every event offered by CAT+FD, including P-MAX events, is evaluated for quality and usefulness. Additionally, participants are given the opportunity to comment on what worked or didn’t work for the event and offer suggestions for improvement and future events. This information is used for continuous improvement and to inform the subject matter of future programming. The quality and usefulness of P-MAX programming is consistently rated as high, ranking above 4 on a 5-point scale for more than four years.

M²M

The M²M program is a new initiative that is approximately six months into implementation, and programming that is beneficial to the Technicians is being developed continuously. Anecdotally, there has been increased engagement and participation in program events since the implementation of M²M. The first cohort of Technicians to participate in M²M will be administered a survey near the end of their one-year tenure to gather feedback on their perception of M²M and any impact it had on their experience in the Post-baccalaureate Technician Program. The information will include their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the elements of the M²M program and its helpfulness/unhelpfulness with meeting their goals related to graduate/professional school. Information gathered will be used to inform modifications to the M²M program to improve outcomes.

ER-XULA

Mentees’ feedback regarding their perceptions of their mentors and the quality of their mentoring experience is used to inform changes to both ER XULA and P-MAX. Fifty-nine (59) student mentees (all of whose mentors completed P-MAX mentor training) completed an annual self-assessment of their program experiences. While the subject matter of the self-assessment is not limited solely to the mentoring experience, shown in Table 3 are selected items from the annual self-assessment related to mentoring, which are measured on a four-point scale of ‘Poor’, ‘Fair’, ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’.

Table 3.

Mentees’ Perceptions of their Mentors.

Assessment Item	% responding ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’
My working relationship with my research mentor	92.5%
Support and guidance from my research mentor	92.5%
My research experience overall	89.1%
The amount of time I spent doing meaningful research	86.5%
The amount of time I spent with my research mentor	83.1%

Shown is the percent of mentees (n=59) responding to the mentoring-related assessment item with either ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’.

Mentees are overwhelmingly positive about their experiences with their research mentors, with more than 90% stating that their working relationship, support and guidance from their P-MAX-trained mentor was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

New Faculty Mentoring

Since the installment of a FIR specifically for new faculty, communication between Xavier and the new faculty has greatly improved. An internal survey of the new faculty, administered at the end of their first-year, found that 100% of new faculty reported that the FIR adequately assisted them in preparing for their first-year experience. Survey findings also showed that 100% of the new faculty rated their first-year experience under the mentorship of the FIR as good or excellent. (Table 4) The FIR has observed an increase in the involvement of new faculty in campus activities and participation in CAT+FD, and an improved sense of belonging amongst the new faculty. Survey findings showed that 75% of new faculty members attended at least one CAT+FD workshop during their first year.

Table 4.

New Faculty First Year Experience.

How would you rate your first year experience?
Rating	% of Respondants
Excellent	67
Good	33
Poor	0

Shown is the percentage of first-year faculty (n=9) rating their first year as ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’.

New faculty perceptions of the Brown Bag Series showed that the Series provides valuable information about what is expected of the faculty. (Table 5) The FIR has utilized one-on-one mentoring, the Brown Bag Series and workshops to break down barriers faced by newly-appointed faculty. The feedback gathered from new faculty has been used to modify aspects of the New Faculty Mentoring initiative and inform activities with future cohorts. The initiative has supported improved teaching; faculty retention; recruitment; productivity; and an improved university climate for new faculty. The FIR position has had a notable impact on new faculty, their students and Xavier. The positive outcomes realized with recent cohorts of new faculty has led to a formal continuation of FIR support for new faculty beyond their first year.

Table 5.

New Faculty Perception of Brown Bag Series.

Assessment Item	% responding ‘Yes’
Was the Brown Bag Series on on “Teaching at a HBCU” helpful?	66.7%
Was the Brown Bag Series on “Office of Research and Sponsored Programs” helpful?	88.9%
Was the Brown Bag Series on “Faculty Update” helpful?	88.9%

Shown is the percentage of first-year faculty (n=9) responding ‘Yes’ to the Brown Bag Series-related prompt. Selected items related to the Brown Bag Series were measured on a 3-point scale of ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Maybe’.

Implications

The approach to mentoring described in this chapter has proven effective at Xavier. It can be tailored to any type of institution – public or private; small or large; minority-serving or predominantly white or any other kind of institution in between. Ample resources exist so that any institution can begin to take steps to transform the mentoring culture in a way that benefits every member of the community – students, faculty and staff. What is essential to any effort to strengthen the mentoring foundation at any institution is the support of the institution itself; a trusted instutional unit that can act as clearinghouse for mentoring efforts; dedicated people to carry out the initiatives of the mentoring effort; and evidence-based programs and initiatives custom-designed for the institutional community.