The proposal, presented by Brenda Moore, associate professor of sociology and chair of the senate's Affirmative Action Committee, is designed to address the disproportionately low reappointment rates of women faculty members as reported by the Task Force on Women and the disproportionately low retention rates of racial minorities that Moore said has been identified by her committee.

It recommends that all junior faculty members be assigned an individual advocate or advisor, or an advisory committee, as soon as he or she is appointed to the faculty.

The advisory committee would function as a mentoring body, and include other faculty members with similar scholarly interests. Members of the panel would be selected by the junior faculty member, the department chair and a tenured faculty member within the department.

Senate Chair Peter Nickerson had slated a first reading of the resolution on May 13 and a second reading, and possible adoption set for the first meeting in the fall semester so that a program could be in place to benefit faculty members who will begin work at UB in the fall.

But Provost Thomas E. Headrick, while supporting the proposal, suggested it might be better to give new faculty members time to get acclimated to the university and learn about their colleagues, particularly their senior colleagues, before they become involved in a mentoring relationship.

Headrick, who told senators he had discussed the issue earlier in the day with members of his junior-faculty advisory board, noted that over time, junior faculty members could realize that a senior colleague whom they initially thought would have been a good mentor, in fact, would have been a poor mentor. Moreover, someone from outside the junior faculty member's department might offer more support than a colleague within the department, he added.

"This is a fairly complicated process we've got to think through in order to do it right and do it in a way that's really supportive of our junior faculty, which is what our aim should be."

Headrick noted that although good mentoring programs exist within some parts of the university, they are not consistent across the university.

Members of the junior-faculty advisory board have indicated that "we need to address this as a university problem" on a unit-by-unit basis, he said.

Moore noted that in recommending the mentoring program, the Affirmative Action Committee is trying to establish a means for new faculty members to have contact with as many of their colleagues as possible to help them adjust to life at UB or facilitate their research efforts.

"At first we see this as a way of welcoming new faculty members and preventing them from falling through the cracks; we feel there should be something in place" for new faculty members when they first start working at the university, she said.

Junior faculty members certainly could change their mentors at a later date if they wish, she added.

Dorothy Woodson, a librarian in Lockwood Library, pointed out that many junior faculty members who do not stay at UB choose to leave for other than academic reasons.

"I've noticed that many people are not happy because they don't feel as though they are being accepted by the university community as a whole," Woodson said. She urged that faculty members from all parts of the university be included as part of mentoring committees, not just colleagues from the junior faculty member's department.

"I think it's important to make some of these faculty feel physically more comfortable and socially more comfortable," she said, noting that UB has lost faculty members to more prestigious institutions, and "it can't just be because they're not being brought along in terms of their research."

Michael Frisch, professor of history and American studies and a member of the Affirmative Action Committee, said that he also has been upset when talented faculty members "feel they are not wanted, welcomed or fitting in" and take jobs at other universities, faculty "who should have been encouraged and reinforced and mentored in a way that would make them excited about staying at UB.

"Part of the larger fit within the university goes beyond simply mentoring in the sense of socialization into that reward structure of a given department," he said, noting that the traditional reward structures are changing due to the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of research.

"I think there is a lot there in terms of how we as an institution develop our capacity to nurture and reinforce a wider range of colleagues and colleagueship," Frisch said.