Skip to main content

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, 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).