Focus on Faculty

Our History & Supporters

Our History

Focus on Faculty is a program that offers one-on-one mentoring, as well as professional development opportunities, to senior arts, humanities, and social sciences faculty. The program was developed by the Provost’s Office and Mizzou ADVANCE in an effort to provide more professional development opportunities to faculty and to enhance the mentoring culture on campus. Mizzou ADVANCE is developing a more diverse senior faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and matching university funds, the three-year grant seeks to educate faculty and administrators on gender equity issues, develop a mentoring system for tenured STEM faculty, identify barriers to women's advancement, and collect institutional data on the climate, support and resources for women's advancement.

Research shows that as faculty progress through their career – from junior to senior faculty – they lose much of the guidance and support they had previously received. This research, along with the desire for faculty mentoring programs shown by department chairs during discussions with the Provost, set the stage for the launch of Focus on Faculty.

The proposal for Focus on Faculty was built on the idea that the model provided by the Mizzou ADVANCE Mentoring Program could be tailored to other departments on campus. Specifically, the proposed program would enable faculty to benefit from one-on-one mentoring as well as professional development opportunities. After reviewing the proposal, the Provost’s Office provided funding for the initiative.

In Fall 2009, the program was expanded to include additional departments in the College of Arts & Science.

Focus on Faculty follows in the footsteps of the Mizzou ADVANCE Mentoring Program, which was launched in spring 2007. The program also offers one-on-one mentoring as well as professional development opportunities to senior science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty. It was well received by STEM faculty. Focus on Faculty aims to serve arts, humanities and social sciences faculty similarly.

Focus on Faculty is directed by Jill Hermsen and co-chaired by Jackie Litt and Sheryl Tucker.

Our Supporters

A number of offices on campus have come together to support Focus on Faculty: