Tonight I watched the recorded Lilly Conference session by Leslie Dolan and colleagues from the Community College of Rhode Island on faculty coaching. Dolan, Charles Kell, and Ali Khalil described a neat mentoring plan for their Accelerated Learning Program. They have a large percentage of adjunct sections teaching dozens of sections. Dolan created a structured mentoring program that included workshops and informal meetings with the cohorts and designated “coaches”. New and seasoned instructors met and shared lesson plans and information. The workshops provided training while the informal meetings created community for part time and full time instructors. This community shared numerous resources and helped members improve their teaching with tips and both formal and informal observations. Thus, their sense of community was strengthen and effective teaching practices were shared. The presenters shared quotes from participants that showed how both mentira and mentees benefitted. This reminded me of how much I have learned thorough PALM! Their presentation and description of the mentoring/coaching program also highlighted what I can do with teaching postdoctoral scholars! I’m lucky to have this opportunity and have to make sure I’m providing these scholars and researchers with the training for future faculty positions. In the process, I learn about new research and pedagogy.
