“My path has not been without challenges…At each point, I felt like I had an advocate and supporter who understood my struggles and self-doubt.”
Faculty are at the heart of Ohio State
Faculty are the driving force behind discovery, innovation and excellence at Ohio State. Through teaching, research and service, faculty advance knowledge and create lasting impact, making faculty success essential to the university’s mission.
A critical part of this success is faculty mentoring, which is not something done to faculty; it is something faculty actively shape. By intentionally seeking out relationships, resources and opportunities aligned with professional goals, faculty build mentoring networks that support growth across every career stage.
While tenure-initiating units (TIUs), colleges and the university provide important structures and resources, effective mentoring is ultimately faculty‑driven. When faculty are supported in exercising agency and leadership in mentoring, the entire Ohio State community is strengthened.
What the data show about faculty mentoring
Formal and informal mentoring matter.
Faculty most often learn how to succeed through relationships with colleagues — particularly senior faculty and peers within their TIUs — where both formal and informal mentoring matter. Informal mentoring provides trusted, ongoing support. When combined with formal mentoring structures and college or university-level initiatives that set clear expectations and offer shared guidance, these relationships help faculty navigate roles, pursue goals and thrive across career stages.
Mentoring across career stages
Tenure‑track assistant professors
Nearly all tenure‑track assistant professors have mentors, and most benefit from both formal and informal support.
Mentoring for tenure‑track assistant professors is a clear strength. Nearly all early‑career faculty (96%) report having at least one mentor, and a majority (59%) benefit from a combination of formal and informal mentoring relationships. Faculty with this combination are the most likely to report strong progress toward their professional goals.
Informal mentoring, which is often grounded in everyday collegial interactions within departments and schools, is especially valued by tenure‑track assistant professors. Alongside structured mentoring programs, these informal connections contribute to strong overall support. These patterns highlight opportunities to expand formal mentoring and invest in approaches that foster organic, supportive relationships among faculty.
Tenure‑track assistant professors most often seek mentoring to:
- Navigate promotion and tenure
- Understand departmental processes and dynamics
- Interpret institutional culture and expectations
- Prepare for annual reviews
Tenured associate professors
Mid‑career faculty benefit from strong mentoring relationships and see opportunities for continued support as they advance.
Most tenured associate professors (78%) report having at least one mentor, with more than half (53%) relying primarily on informal mentoring relationships. These connections, most often developed within tenure‑initiating units, are widely valued and are associated with greater confidence in professional progress and direction.
Tenured associate professors most often seek mentoring to:
- Clarify departmental and university expectations
- Receive guidance for ongoing career planning
- Navigate the promotion process thoughtfully and effectively
Together, these findings highlight a strong foundation of informal mentoring while also pointing to opportunities to further strengthen mentoring culture. By building complementary, structured supports that extend and sustain existing relationships, departments, schools and colleges can help maintain momentum and engagement during the mid‑career stage.
Tenured professors
Mentoring remains valuable as senior faculty focus on leadership, planning and legacy.
Tenured professors bring deep experience, broad networks and a strong foundation of scholarly and institutional knowledge. Mentoring still matters for many of them, and they continue to seek professional growth through a wide range of mentoring sources, including dissertation advisors, collaborators, emeriti colleagues and peers in their TIUs.
These relationships fuel continued development, leadership and innovation across career stages. They show that as tenured faculty evolve in their careers, mentoring remains an important resource that supports new forms of impact, leadership and innovation. Common mentoring priorities for tenured professors include:
- Exploring leadership and administrative pathways
- Engaging in ongoing career planning and professional reinvention
- Sustaining and advancing research productivity
- Securing large‑scale or interdisciplinary funding
- Navigating retirement transitions thoughtfully and intentionally
Additional Tenured Professor Mentoring Approaches
Tenured Professors Peer Circles
Small, collegial groups of 4–7 tenured professors who meet regularly for reflection, strategic conversation, and mutual support.
Purpose:
- Deepen intellectual community
- Provide space for renewal and long‑view career planning
- Troubleshoot high-level challenges
- Foster belonging at a sometimes-isolating career stage
Tenured professors at Ohio State highlight the importance of peer and informal mentoring, often drawing on colleagues within and beyond their TIU for guidance. Peer Circles honor their autonomy, experience, and preference for reciprocal, non‑hierarchical relationships.
Leadership & Influence Circles
Mentoring groups are designed for tenured professors exploring or preparing for administrative or institutional leadership roles.
Purpose:
- Build leadership skills (e.g., budgeting, managing personnel, conflict navigation)
- Discuss pathways to chair, associate dean, director roles
- Provide a confidential space for processing administrative challenges
- Strengthen institutional influence
Many tenured professors at Ohio State rate leadership development and administrative training among their most significant mentoring needs. Leadership Circles offer them structured support for stepping into institution‑shaping roles.
Advanced Constellation Mentoring (Self‑Created Network Model)
Self‑designed, faculty‑curated mentoring network where tenured professors build a “constellation” of mentors inside and outside OSU to support different dimensions of their work.
Examples of mentors:
- Research collaborator
- Grants/funding strategist
- Teaching mentor
- Cross‑unit colleague for political culture guidance
- Emeritus faculty mentor
- External disciplinary leader
Flexibility, diverse, non‑hierarchical relationships are best suited for tenured professors. Constellation mentoring formalizes and legitimizes the network-based mentoring they naturally gravitate toward.
Faculty Learning & Innovation Labs
Short‑term, project‑focused mentoring groups for tenured professors centered on scholarly reinvention, major initiatives, or teaching innovation.
Examples:
- Restarting a research trajectory
- Designing a major interdisciplinary grant
- Developing a new center or institute
- Innovating large‑enrollment teaching
Tenured professors have a strong interest in ongoing intellectual engagement, research productivity, and grant success. These labs provide goal‑oriented mentoring without long-term commitments.
Emeriti–Full Professor Strategic Partnerships
Intentional partnerships between tenured professors and emeriti faculty that leverage emeriti members’ deep institutional knowledge and broad scholarly perspective.
Focus:
- Long‑term planning
- Navigating institutional history and politics
- Leadership readiness
- Late‑career decision making and legacy work
Emeriti and retired colleagues are important sources of support and knowledge for tenured professors and provide unique strategic insight. These partnerships strengthen institutional stewardship and support long‑horizon career thinking.
Distinguished Mentor–Mentor Dialogues
A reciprocal, structured dialogue between two senior faculty members focused on, for example, mentoring philosophy, supervisory challenges, and supporting early-career colleagues.
Purpose:
- Improve mentoring skills
- Reflect on mentoring identity
- Share strategies for supporting junior faculty
- Strengthen mentoring culture from the top of the academic ladder
Because professors carry the responsibility for modeling and sustaining mentoring culture, they benefit from opportunities to reflect, refine, and elevate their mentoring practice in partnership with peers.
Tenured Professor Writing or Grants Consortiums
A group of tenured professors collaborating on writing or major grant projects with built‑in accountability, feedback, and peer coaching.
Examples:
- Book manuscript groups
- Multi‑PI grants
- National award dossiers
- Interdisciplinary proposal teams
Informal writing groups, collaborative grants, and peer networks serve as key mentoring sources for tenured professors. Consortiums support productivity and intellectual momentum.
Clinical, Teaching, and Practice Faculty
Targeted mentoring strengthens connection, recognition, and long‑term success.
Clinical, Teaching and Practice (CTP) faculty play a vital role in Ohio State’s academic mission and community. Many have identified opportunities to deepen connection and support through clearer guidance, more tailored mentoring, and increased visibility and recognition.
These faculty value mentoring that reflects the distinct nature of their roles, supports career advancement and navigation of university systems, and fosters meaningful community across colleges and units. Continued attention to these areas offers a strong opportunity to further strengthen mentoring culture and ensure that CTP faculty are well supported as they grow and make an impact across the university.
“My professional trajectory would not have reached the heights it has without his support, mentorship, and friendship. I am eternally grateful.”
What faculty can do next
- Begin with mentoring relationships in your TIU, where most faculty find the most meaningful support.
- Seek out informal mentors as well as formal opportunities aligned with your goals.
- Explore college‑level and university‑wide programs to expand networks and leadership development.