Optimizing Mentor/Mentee Relationships In Academia

The demands of a tenure track appointment at a university can seem overwhelming to a beginning faculty member. Many new engineering professors begin such appointments immediately after a Ph.D. program or post-doctoral appointment. The decade or so of academia sitting in the student’s desk and serving as a researcher in the laboratory does not provide adequate preparation for life behind the podium. Launching a research program, obtaining funding, securing laboratory facilities and equipment, teaching courses, and weeding through the seemingly countless requests to serve on university and research-related committees and activities are all demands placed on new faculty members. Unseen to most graduate and doctoral students, these tasks present an imposing reality to the beginning faculty member.