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Mentor Program

To provide support for programs and faculty seeking to enhance their assessment efforts, several faculty with expertise in assessment shall be certified as assessment mentors through a review by the Academic Affairs Assessment Committee (AACC) and the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. Those who are certified as mentors will provide support to a specified and contracted number of faculty and/or programs in their development of outcomes, assessment strategies, and the use of assessment data to make changes. Mentors may and are encouraged to mentor faculty or programs outside their department or College.

Criteria for the Certification of Mentors

To receive certification as a mentor, faculty members must apply to the AAAC with the following:

• A statement of their experience with assessment
• Documentation of participation in assessment workshops and conferences
• Documentation of their own assessment proficiency either at the course or program level including sample outcomes, assessment plan, and assessment activities.
  
  

Review Process

• Proposals will be reviewed by the AAAC.
• Where candidates do not meet the criteria, they will be notified of that decision. Candidates will have three weeks to appeal that decision.
• The AAAC will select the candidates to serve as mentors from the qualified candidates
• The AAAC will forward their decision to the Associate VPAA for review; the decision of the Associate VPAA is final. However, the Associate VPAA shall explain to the AAAC reasons for altering from the AAAC’s recommendations
• Individuals who do not meet the criteria but demonstrate a strong interest in developing their expertise in assessment may be supported in their development and be appointed as mentors when a development program has been completed.  This program will be individually developed with the candidate, a representative of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Associate VPAA.
  
  

Responsibilities

• The mentor will have responsibilities for several designated faculty mentees or two programs or a combination, based on an agreement between the mentor and the Associate VPAA.
• The mentor will identify a plan for working with the faculty and/or programs to enhance assessment and forward that plan to the Associate VPAA and the relevant Department Head.
• The mentor will meet with and work with the faculty or programs several times over one to two semesters to achieve the designated improvements.
• The mentor is not responsible for writing the outcomes, conducting the assessment, or analyzing the data. The mentor may indicate resources the mentees may employ to be more effective.
• At the end of the semester designated, the mentor will submit a report of how they completed the plan with supporting assessment material such as the outcomes generated (see accountability).
  
  

Stipend

• The mentor will receive a $500 stipend for each semester of service in that role. Where the task is greater than normal, the mentor may request a larger stipend at the beginning of the process.

Accountability
At the end of the process, the mentor will be held accountable by two methods.

• The mentor will submit a report of the work completed and the gains made in assessment activities.
• The AAAC will conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of the mentor by surveying the mentees.
  
  

The mentor will be entitled to the stipend on the completion of the report and documentation by the survey that the person did meet with the mentees and met their responsibilities, regardless of how effective their efforts are viewed. Those with a negative assessment of their role as mentor will not be renewed unless they can, in an appeal to the AAAC, document that the survey results are inaccurate.