As Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Robert Granfield is the senior executive officer responsible to the Provost for all matters pertaining to UB’s faculty. He and his staff help facilitate a culture of faculty excellence at the university in the areas of research, teaching, and service. The primary duties of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs include coordinating the university’s promotion and tenure process; welcoming and orienting new faculty to UB; assisting deans, department chairs, and faculty with issues associated with hiring and retention; building programs to orient new department chairs and improve their management skills; facilitating the nomination process for national, internal, and SUNY awards; and partnering with the Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion to develop proactive strategies for enhancing faculty diversity.
Effective mentorship is unquestionably one of the most valuable resources in building a highly functional and successful department. UB’s Mentoring Policy states that all schools and departments shall provide faculty mentoring opportunities for all tenure-track and clinical/research/adjunct faculty and tenured associate professors for the first five years after tenure is granted. Mentoring for associate professors beyond five years and full professors is optional but highly encouraged. Yet, building an effective mentoring culture within departments can sometimes be challenging. In this session, we will review data collected by the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and explore the following topics:
· UB’s current Mentoring Policy
· Challenges to faculty mentoring within departments
· Best practices associated with faculty mentoring
· Mentoring faculty through their career
The application deadline for most awards is August 1. The next full Core competition, for academic year 2020-2021, will open in February 2019