Past Event: NTID Network-Based Mentoring Sessions | Late Fall 2018

Earlier this fall, AdvanceRIT and NTID held sessions for NTID faculty and academic leaders to encourage network-based mentoring to support faculty connections. The most common form of mentoring has been a “traditional model,” which is defined by a one-on-one relationship between an experienced faculty member who guides the career development of an early career faculty member. Formal mentoring programs have been largely designed to fit this traditional definition.  Recent research, however, has indicated the emergence of new, more flexible approaches to mentoring in which faculty build a network of multiple “mentoring partners” who can address a variety of career competencies.

Academic leaders identified common roadblocks to success for faculty across the career trajectory, recognized both traditional and emerging models of mentoring, explored how to design and implement a networked mentoring program, shared strategies to effectively address communication challenges while networking in non-deaf environments, and discussed outcomes, best practices, and resources on network-based mentoring for use by faculty and administrators.

Faculty participants identified professional goals, strengths, and skills that they wanted to develop, explored mentoring as a medium for helping meet those goals, “mapped” personal mentoring networks—what they are and could be, drawing on a range of examples from NTID faculty colleagues, shared strategies on effectively addressing communication challenges while networking in non-deaf environments, and discussed best practices for seeking, developing, and cultivating a network of mentors.

15 academic leaders and 9 faculty from NTID participated in the sessions. Participant feedback was positive and included comments such as “great info!” Further, one participant’s most significant takeaway was “never thought about the idea of ‘mutual mentoring’.”