New Faculty Mentoring Program
Our mentoring program is a cornerstone of faculty support at JSU. We connect new tenure-track faculty with experienced mentors who provide guidance on teaching, research, and professional growth.
Structured workshops bring new faculty together for shared learning and community building, while one-on-one meetings with mentors help each faculty member design a comprehensive career plan. Together, these efforts provide the support needed to navigate the tenure process with confidence and to thrive in long-term academic careers.
Interested in Joining?
The mentoring program supports first- and second-year tenure-track faculty, while also welcoming all faculty interested in strengthening their career trajectory. Mentor-mentee matches are made each fall. To be matched with a mentor for Fall 2026, contact us at jsucus@jsums.edu.
Spring 2026 Sessions
These sessions provide guidance, tools, and a supportive community to help you succeed at JSU and beyond.
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Wed, Jan 28
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3:00 p.m.
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Building Your Tenure Case as You Go: The Canvas P&T Tool
Many faculty find themselves scrambling to reconstruct years of work when evaluation deadlines arrive. This session introduces JSU’s Canvas-based Promotion & Tenure tool as a way to document your teaching, research, and service continuously—so the evidence is already organized when you need it. You’ll leave with an active Canvas P&T shell and a strategy for maintaining it efficiently.
Set up a system that builds your tenure case as you go.
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Wed, Feb 18
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3:00 p.m.
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From Teaching to Scholarship: Adding SoTL to Your Research Portfolio
Balancing a full teaching load with an active research agenda is one of the central challenges at a teaching-intensive institution. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning offers an additional pathway for expanding your research portfolio—one that draws on work you’re already doing in the classroom. You’ll leave with a draft SoTL concept that identifies a research question, data source, and potential publication venue.
Turn classroom questions into publishable research.
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Wed, Apr 1
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3:00 p.m.
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Summer That Works: Planning for Progress Without Burnout
It’s easy to overcommit in May and feel defeated by August. This session supports you in planning a summer that advances your scholarly work while remaining realistic and sustainable. Mentors share honest lessons from experience—including what hasn’t worked. You’ll leave with a written summer plan aligned with your tenure goals.
Plan a summer that moves your work forward without burning out.
Fall 2025 Session Recordings
Missed a session? Recordings and slides from Fall 2025 workshops are available below.
Creating Your Tenure Roadmap
Translate broad goals into a concrete three-to-five-year plan with milestones for teaching, research, and service that align with JSU’s tenure expectations.
Building a Research Pipeline and Protecting Time for It
Move from single papers to a sustainable pipeline that supports publication, funding, and impact—with strategies for blocking time, setting routines, and saying no.
Collaborative Research at JSU: Finding Partners and Projects
Low-pressure ways to connect with potential research partners, talk about your work in ways that invite collaboration, and map your network for co-authors and project allies.
Balancing Service, Teaching, and Research Without Losing Focus
Strategies for setting boundaries, aligning service with your career plan, evaluating requests, and maintaining balance among the three core areas of faculty work.
Faculty Development for Student Success
