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Peer Mentoring Circles

TEAM ADVANCE Peer Mentoring Circles

TEAM ADVANCE Peer Mentoring Circles are open to early-career faculty (assistant professor level, pre-tenure or fixed-term) seeking to develop holistic well-being and advance professional goals with a cohort of peers. The program encourages networking, community-building, and self-advocacy. Early-career faculty are grouped by shared goals and interests into circles of 4-6 pre-tenure and fixed-term peers. Each circle is led by two experienced faculty mentors (one tenured, one fixed-term).

Early-career faculty, both pre-tenure and fixed-term, are encouraged to sign up to join a Peer Circle. Experienced faculty at the associate and full professor ranks are invited to support the program as Circles Mentors.

Interested in joining our 2024-25 Peer Mentoring Circles program? You may express interest by completing our brief 2024-25 CFE Faculty Mentoring Programs Interest Survey. We will follow up with additional information and registration instructions.

Contact Joanna Helene Foland, Faculty Development Consultant, or Tim Smith, Mentoring Program Coordinator, At: CFEMentoringdevelopment@unc.edu with questions or for more information.

2024-25 Faculty Mentoring Programs Interest Survey

The Peer Mentoring Circles program consists of:

  • Monthly Peer Mentoring Circles facilitated by two experienced faculty mentors
  • Support and preparation for departmental faculty annual review
  • Priority invitation to professional development workshops hosted by the Center for Faculty Excellence

Our curriculum includes:

  • Establishing Group “Ground Rules,” Building Trust, and Communication
  • Taking Inventory of Existing Mentoring Support and Identifying Needs
  • Understanding Promotion and Tenure Requirements
  • Developing Professional Identity  and Navigating Imposter Syndrome and Stereotype Threat
  • Negotiation and Communication Skills
  • Preparing for Departmental Faculty Annual Review

Become a Peer Mentoring Circles Mentor

For each Peer Mentoring Circles cohort, we invite experienced associate and full professor, either tenured or fixed-term, to serve as Peer Mentoring Circles Mentors.

Circles Mentors are matched with a partner and guide circle discussions with a group of 5-8 early-career faculty. We pair a fixed-term mentor with a tenured mentor in order to support faculty mentees of each track in each circle. TEAM ADVANCE offers ongoing support and development for facilitators:

  • An orientation introducing the TEAM ADVANCE Peer Mentoring Circles model, best facilitation practices, and preparation for the first circle meetings.
  • Continuous access to facilitation guides, workshop materials, and other resources.
  • Monthly mentor debriefs to share experiences, challenges, and prepare for circle meetings.
  • A weekly newsletter from TEAM ADVANCE with updates, resources, and opportunities.

We anticipate the monthly time commitment of about 2.5 hours, which includes one circle meeting (90-minutes) and one debrief with the program leads and other mentors (1 hour).