Faculty across the US learned a lot of hard lessons during spring 2020 and beyond, as we became isolated from our students, our colleagues, our physical classrooms, and our research spaces. Unfortunately, those most affected were the most vulnerable: faculty from underrepresented populations, new faculty, and faculty not on the tenure track. As we continue to understand how that time of isolation affected us, one thing seems certain: the lack of human connection with our colleagues led to feelings of inadequacy and deficiency as we tried to navigate our teaching, research, and service obligations alone at home. We missed interactions—formal and informal—with our colleagues and mentors during which we could talk about classroom activities that flopped or new projects we were struggling to revise for publication. In short, we missed having opportunities for meaningful mentorship, and that exigence spurred new conversations at our university about faculty mentorship.
Connections Are Everything: Putting Relationships at the Heart of Higher Ed
As academic leaders, we are under so much pressure to deliver—enrollment targets, strategic plans, graduation rates, AI policies, and on and on—that we can lose sight of what our students
Isis Artze-Vega, Leo M. Lambert, and Peter Felten
March 4, 2024
