Executive Summary
Introduction
Higher education drives societal progress by generating new knowledge, fostering innovation, and supporting the people who make that work possible. At the center of this mission is faculty mentoring—a critical driver of faculty success, retention, collaboration, and institutional excellence. Strengthening mentoring is essential to sustaining Ohio State’s academic vitality and ensuring an environment where all faculty can thrive.
To advance this priority, the university launched an initiative to create an evidence based, university wide mentoring framework grounded in faculty experiences and informed by national best practices. The 2025 Study on Faculty Mentoring, spearheaded by Korie Little, used a multi method approach—surveys, interviews, focus groups, and benchmarking against 21 Big Ten and other peer institutions—to examine how mentoring is experienced, supported, and valued across roles, ranks, appointment types, colleges, and regional campuses. Close to 650 faculty participated, along with deans, associate deans, department chairs, school directors, and senior administrators. Together, these efforts provide a clear, comprehensive picture of faculty mentoring at Ohio State—one shaped by faculty voices, academic leadership, and lessons from peer institutions. What emerged is a strong sense of the university’s existing assets and the opportunities ahead, which informed a university framework for faculty mentoring. This framework positions Ohio State to implement mentoring structures that are more intentional, more supportive, and more aligned with faculty needs. The key findings below reflect consistent themes across units and groups.
Key findings
- TIUs are the cornerstone of faculty mentoring. They are the primary and most effective sites of mentoring support.
- Informal mentoring is highly valued. Trusting, organic relationships are among the most meaningful and impactful forms of mentoring.
- Mentoring practices are uneven. Units vary widely in how mentoring is defined, structured, and communicated.
- Early career faculty benefit from structure. Clear guidance and formal programs, paired with informal support, are valuable for new faculty success.
- Mid career faculty have unmet needs. Mid career faculty need more intentional mentoring for promotion to professor and clearer role expectations.
- Tenured professors need mentoring too. Key areas include leadership development, career planning, expanding research impact, and securing major projects and grants.
- Equity matters. Mentoring experiences vary across appointment types, identities, and disciplines, highlighting opportunities to promote greater consistency and access.
Guiding principles
The framework is built on principles informed by the study and peer institution review. Foundationally, mentoring at Ohio State is strengthened by shared responsibility and aligned purpose. TIUs serve as local catalysts for mentoring and professional growth, colleges champion and reinforce these efforts, and Academic Affairs provides the unifying vision and expectations. Faculty are empowered to lead their own mentoring journeys, supported by clear and consistent messaging that sustains a strong mentoring culture. Effective mentoring is grounded in collaboration, reciprocity, and mutuality, while remaining flexible enough to reflect the unique needs and cultures of individual units. Both formal and informal mentoring play essential roles in faculty success. Affirming the diverse identities, needs, and mentoring styles of faculty ensures that everyone can thrive, and celebrating mentoring as essential professional labor reinforces its value and encourages continued engagement across the university.
Mentoring roles across the university
- Provost’s Office: Advances the university’s mission through a unifying mentoring vision that honors the work of TIUs, colleges, and regional campuses while supporting flexible, aligned practices that expand opportunities and elevate mentoring as essential to faculty success.
- Colleges and Regional Campuses: Reinforce TIU efforts, expand formal and informal mentoring opportunities, support faculty at key career stages, and celebrate mentoring as vital professional labor.
- Departments/Schools (TIUs): As the foundation of faculty mentoring, cultivate flexible, inclusive formal and informal support that empowers faculty and strengthens a collaborative, growth focused culture.
- Individual Faculty: Empowered to actively shape their own mentoring relationships and contribute to a culture of collegiality, reciprocity, and mutual support.
What the framework achieves
When mentoring is embraced and supported, faculty thrive, units are strengthened, and the university’s academic mission is advanced. This framework provides Ohio State with a coherent, evidence based foundation for strengthening faculty mentoring. It clarifies expectations, elevates the contributions of TIUs, colleges, and regional campuses, and supports a culture where mentoring is recognized as a shared responsibility and a cornerstone of academic excellence. It offers alignment and guidance while honoring the diverse cultures and disciplinary contexts of units across the university.
Prepared by Korie Little
Office of Faculty Affairs Faculty Fellow
University Distinguished Scholar and Professor, Department of Sociology
May 2026