Concordia University Texas: "Vocation of the Professor: Conversations on Mission and Pedagogy"
Director: Carl Trovall

Concordia University Texas initiated the “Vocation of the Professor: Conversations on Mission and Pedagogy” mentoring program during the 2019-2020 academic year with the explicit purpose of exploring academic vocation and pedagogy through the lens of the university’s newly drafted mission statement. We brought in Dr. Susan VanZanten, Dean of Christ College at Valparaiso University, to speak and lead an all-faculty retreat on the importance of the church-related university’s mission. A pilot reading and discussion group of 8 members met five times throughout the semester for stimulating discussions about Dr. VanZanten’s book, Joining the Mission, along with other essays. We paired experienced faculty with an understanding of Concordia’s Lutheran identity to be mentors for four new faculty members. COVID-19 interrupted the planned program in the Spring of 2020. During the lockdown we invited (via Zoom) Dr. Leonard N. Moore, the George Littlefield Professor of American History at the University of Texas at Austin, to speak and help the whole faculty reflect on our vocation and pedagogy as it relates to DEI in the opening phrase in our mission statement, “Concordia empowers students of all backgrounds.” A second cohort and discussion group of faculty members was successfully created after the lockdown was lifted.

University of Notre Dame: “Recently Tenured Network”
Director: Laura Carlson

The objective of the Recently Tenured Network program is to provide recently tenured faculty with the tools to find a good mentor and then create opportunities for encounters with potential mentors and allow natural mentorship pairings to occur. Mentors are best found through authentic encounters, essentially mentorship pairings form in the context of authentic and ongoing relationships. The Post-Tenure Pathfinders Workshop provides recently tenured faculty with information on finding a good mentor while the remaining opportunities give recently tenured faculty a chance to put that information to use. The Recently Tenured Network consists of three events, a Post-Tenure Pathfinders Workshop offered through the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, time to ask veteran faculty about how to partner mission and work, and a seminar on making the most of the time available to write. The Post-Tenure Pathfinders Workshop provides recently tenured faculty with the time to chart their path forward, an opportunity to engage with other recently tenured faculty from departments across the University and instruction on how to find an insightful mentor. A discussion on Community and Collaboration with senior faculty members gives participants the chance to ask challenging questions about how to incorporate the mission of the University in their research and pedagogy, as well as other questions about creating a community of belonging. The Time to Write workshop provides recently tenured faculty with tools to make the most of the limited time they have available to write grants, papers, articles, and books. The Time to Write event also gives faculty a chance to form writing accountability partnerships that will last long after the conclusion of the Program.

John Brown University: “Fostering a Caring Classroom Community”
Director: Aminta Arrington

Fostering a Caring Classroom Community, a Lilly Fellows Program-funded Faculty Development program, launched in October and ran all year with a total of 17 participants, including co-directors. The participants came from every college within JBU as well as the library. Each month we met as a large group. In addition, the participants were divided into four small groups which also met each month to discuss a book chosen from a master list. The majority read College Students’ Sense of Belonging by Terrell L. Strayhorn. The “classroom ecosystem” served as a guiding metaphor for the year, as we imagined the various elements in a classroom from the teacher, the content, and the diverse array of students. One of our most impactful sessions was meeting with the MOSAIC leadership team and hearing their stories. The entire group travelled to Portland, OR, to attend the Sisco Symposium at George Fox University March 13-15.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota: “Adding a Mentoring Component to the Faculty Learning Community Program”
Director: Matthew Gerlach

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona conducted two Professional Learning Communities (PLC), a semester-long program for faculty mentors.  There were twelve faculty member participants, six in each cohort.  The faculty members were senior leaders among the faculty—department chairs, faculty council members and informal mentors.  Each cohort completed eight meetings over one semester (2 hours each) as well as additional readings and assignments.  The readings included materials on mentoring,  Ex Corde Ecclesiae by John Paul II (1990) about the Church and the University and Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher by Agathon, Superior of the Christian Brothers (1785). The discussions focused on the mission of the University and how to mentor new faculty into the culture of the University.

Baylor University: "Re-envisioning the Humanities: Predicament, Perspective, Practice"
Director: Douglas Henry

Aimed to cultivate understanding of causes for a much-discussed national crisis in the humanities; reflection on ways in which our mission-driven, interdisciplinary humanities curriculum provides a compelling alternative; and renewal of our academic vocation with conviction and strengthened expertise. Importantly, the program featured mentoring that addressed three key steps toward re-envisioning and renewing the humanities: understanding the predicament, developing perspective in light of our Christian mission, and putting into practice what we learned together. Within this framework, fifteen applicants were selected to participate in a year-long series of dinner discussions led by Honors College Dean Douglas Henry and organized around a program of reading that featured six essays and four books. The essays included Baylor University’s “The Four C’s,” Elizabeth Corey’s “Learning in Love,” Darin Davis’s “Seeking the Common Good by Educating for Wisdom,” Julia Hejduk’s “Teaching in Paradise,” Andrew Kay’s “Academe’s Extinction Event,” and Justin Stover’s “There is No Case for the Humanities.” Books assigned were Jaroslav Pelikan, The Idea of the University: A Reexamination, Eric Adler, The Battle of the Classics: How a Nineteenth-Century Debate Can Save the Humanities Today, Paul Reitter and Chad Wellmon, Permanent Crisis: The Humanities in a Disenchanted Age, and Roosevelt Montás, Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed my Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation. In late spring semester, based on study and discussion of these resources, paired participants engaged in a syllabus exchange and classroom visit exercise, asking and answering a guided set of questions designed to help them strengthen educational practice as humanities scholars informed by Christian understanding.

Loyola Marymount University: "Teacher-Scholars for Mission"
Director: John Sebastian

Teacher-Scholars for Mission seeks to introduce new faculty at LMU to what it means to be teacher-scholars for mission at a Catholic university grounded in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions of higher education and in the unique charisms of our three sponsoring religious congregations: the Society of Jesus, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange. This faculty development project is intended to align teaching with the distinctive Ignatian and Jesuit character of the university while inviting novice faculty to explore their understandings of their own vocations as teacher-scholars at a mission driven university. The program accomplishes these goals by bringing new faculty into conversation with veteran mentors as the explore the university's mission and Ignatian tradition through a series of activities that include a year-long Faculty Learning Community, a writing retreat, and ongoing mentorship grounded in Ignatian Spirituality. 

Salve Regina University: “Mentoring in Mercy: Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboratives Engaging the Critical Concerns of Mercy”
Director: Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley

Through the support of the Lilly Fellows Program Mentoring Program Grant, the Mercy Critical Concern Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboratives fostered the vocational leadership and contributions across mid-career and senior level faculty members in relation to the Mercy, Catholic mission of the University and the Critical Concerns of Mercy. The grant sponsored two interdisciplinary faculty collaborative cohorts around the Critical Concern of the Earth and the Critical Concern of Race. Bringing together faculty from across university departments to mutually advance interdisciplinary teaching, research, and/or university initiatives, the collaboratives hosted monthly seminars, public lectures, and a concluding campus roundtable. Student research assistants were integral to nearly every faculty member’s initiative and the collaboratives furthered the Mercy, Catholic mission of Salve Regina University in integrative and visible ways for faculty, students, and the larger Salve community.

Sterling College: “Mentoring for Community, Diversity, and Hospitality”
Director: Rachel Griffis

Sterling college developed a mentoring program that would engage activities and programs to develop faculty leaders, provide opportunities for all faculty to learn about teaching in a diverse environment, and to deepen faculty’s understanding of Christian community and hospitality. We accomplished these goals by sending faculty to a CCCU conference, gathering small groups of faculty for leadership training and mentoring, and providing a training for all faculty to attend. The COVID pandemic disrupted our plans for the mentoring grant, and so some of our activities changed, due to the need for virtual programs and increased workload/stress on faculty who were expected to participate. However, all the goals of the program were met. In fall 2019, four faculty attended the “Diversity and Inclusion Conference” at George Fox University. Upon their return, they shared what they learned with Sterling College faculty at a faith and learning coffee event that same semester. In spring 2020, eight faculty members met as a small group to discuss readings on hospitality and their application to serving our students. In fall 2020, the faculty members involved in the group who met the previous spring led small group discussions over five books on diversity and 42 people participated in these small groups. We will continue this work through a regional conference, “Fostering Community and Hospitality on a Diverse Campus,” also funded by an LFP grant, that has become a requirement for all faculty. We hope that it will be an opportunity for Sterling College faculty, along with staff, administrators, and educators from other campuses, to unite around the concepts of community and hospitality.

Goshen College: “Mission in Action” 
Directors: Beth Martin Birky, Jody Saylor

Goshen College (GC) developed a one-year “Mission in Action” mentoring program to foster faculty understanding of GC’s mission as a Christian liberal arts institution shaped by Anabaptist Mennonite tradition. GC’s mentoring program paired 11 new faculty with mid-career mentors in order to help new faculty understand GC’s unique culture and core values, build strong connections to campus, consider their professional development at GC, enhance faculty retention, and strengthen their pedagogy, and to engage mid-career faculty mentors in the integration of GC’s mission with their own faith and with inclusive teaching strategies for increased student success. All participants met monthly for group seminars that included reading, structured input, discussion, application, and reflection. In fall 2020, group seminars included presentations on GC’s mission and the college’s Anabaptist context, its global education program, and the GC Core. A faculty panel addressed faith and teaching. In the spring, group workshops gave faculty time to practice valuable pedagogical skills: establishing trust, active listening, goal setting, reflective observation/interaction, productive feedback and revision. At the end of each semester, participants wrote personal statement on the GC mission and core values and their teaching. Although COVID-19 impacted new faculty’s campus experience, participants were empowered to translate GC’s mission into effective, student-centered teaching and learning. By implementing and testing effective teaching strategies, faculty articulated their own mission-centered professional goals. Due to this year’s success, the 2021-2022 “Mission in Action” mentoring program will include new administrative faculty and mentors. We anticipate that the “Mission in Action” mentoring program will increase faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship in the context of Christian higher education.