The ADVANCE Program recognizes that there are a variety of ways for faculty members to acquire guidance throughout their academic careers.  Ideally, tenure-track faculty members cultivate a number of advisors or mentors, each of whom may help with different issues at different times.  Mentors can be senior faculty members at Brown, colleagues from other institutions, and peers at Brown with whom there may be less risk in discussing experiences in their home departments.  The ADVANCE Program is currently supporting two approaches to mentoring:  Peer Mentoring Groups and the One-to-One Faculty Mentoring Program.

The One-to-One Faculty Mentoring Program is a collaborative effort of the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, the Office of the Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, and the ADVANCE Program.  It provides a formal mechanism for tenure-track faculty members to connect with a Mentor outside of their department.  The Mentor will be someone with whom they can speak candidly and share their experiences and concerns.  A tenure-track and a tenured faculty member will be "matched" with each other based on responses to a questionnaire.

Mentors will assist junior faculty members with professional development by providing information about university policies, culture, and resources; advice for balancing competing commitments (teaching, research, family, professional service, advising); suggestions for when to say "yes" to and when to say "no;" and strategies for gaining national and international recognition in their field.

The One-to-One Faculty Mentoring Program was developed in response to Brown University tenure-track faculty members’ responses to a 2006 COACHE (Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education) Survey conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This survey captured tenure-track faculty members’ understandings of tenure and promotion practices and policies; satisfaction with research and teaching opportunities; and experiences of campus culture and collegiality.  Survey results revealed that tenure-track faculty at Brown University are among the most satisfied overall from universities surveyed, however both female and male pre-tenure faculty members desired more formal and informal mentoring opportunities.