The UBC Instructor Network maintains an informal mentoring framework available to all Educational Leadership stream faculty at UBCV and UBCO. The mentoring framework is based on the voluntary participation of mentors and mentees under the general guidelines described below. Mentoring through the INLeT is intended to supplement other mentoring programs and opportunities.
Why Mentoring?
Effective mentoring is a common characteristic of successful faculty careers. Mentoring provides a number of general benefits, including:
- Enhancing the professional well-being of all faculty involved;
- Supporting new and under-represented faculty;
- Wider benefits to the institution, especially retention, positive working environment, and community building.
Why Mentoring for Educational Leadership Stream Faculty?
Mentoring provides additional general benefits for teaching stream faculty, who are a minority among full-time faculty at UBCV and UBCO. These benefits include:
- Clarity on the missions and roles of teaching stream faculty;
- Consultation on teaching and learning-related pedagogy;
- Advice on professional development and career progress expectations;
- Building community among teaching-dedicated faculty.
The INLet Mentoring Philosophy
The INLeT (Instructor Network Leadership Team) mentoring framework is based on the following principles:
Flexibility: mentoring partnerships can take a number of forms. No single mentoring model should be imposed on mentoring partnerships.
Specialization: no single person is expected to possess all the expertise or insights required in any mentor relationship. Therefore, mentoring partnerships should focus on specific areas of expertise and lived experience, rather than generalized or “one size fits all” knowledge.
Preferences: mentoring should accommodate the personal and professional wishes of the partners (mentors and mentees) involved with respect to subject matter and frequency and form of contact.
Reciprocity: all partners in a relationship should derive value from mentoring.
Ownership: Educational leadership and teaching faculty gain a sense of community and empowerment not as passive recipients of mentoring but by taking responsibility for their career development in partnership with others.
The INLeT Mentoring Advantage
The INLeT mentoring framework is intended to complement existing university and faculty mentoring efforts by facilitating the mentoring of Educational Leadership faculty on teaching, professional development, and progression through the ranks. Specifically, the INLeT mentoring framework can offer supplementary mentorship resources in the following areas:
- The first years at UBC for new Educational Leadership stream faculty;
- Promotion to Senior Instructor (materials and expectations);
- Promotion to Professor of Teaching (materials and expectations);
- Teaching dossier development;
- Educational Leadership development (definition and expectations);
- Interpersonal and professional relations (navigating contention and confusion about the rank);
- Work/life balance and Instructor teaching responsibilities;
- Promotion of teaching and learning pedagogy, technique, and curriculum development;
- Scholarship of teaching and learning, grant applications, publication of research.
INLeT Mentoring Framework Guidelines
Please see here for these guidelines: INLeT Mentoring Framework Guidelines (PDF)
How to Get Started!
Contact the INLeT Mentoring Coordinator(s). You can find their contact information on the “About” page of this site. You will be asked to provide some background about your mentoring context and needs, including your desired outcomes. This could happen via e-mail or a meeting with the Mentoring Coordinator. The Coordinator will then try to match you with an Educational Leadership stream faculty member.