ADVANCE AU's first-ever faculty peer mentorship retreat, held earlier this month, carved out important time for American University scholars to make professional development a priority.

Twenty faculty and 15 administrators gathered at Arlie Hotel and Conference Center on September 6-7 to kick off two of ADVANCE AU's three 2024-25 cohorts-one for associate-level, tenure-track professors and another for term faculty. A third cohort for research-active term faculty, which was not present at the retreat, is now underway, too.

The success of the intensive boot camp lay in its mix of formal development sessions and informal networking time.

"It really exceeded our expectations," said Priya Doshi, associate dean for faculty and inclusive excellence. "We wanted to design this as a retreat largely because we wanted to give faculty a chance to step away from their everyday roles and responsibilities and be in community with one another."

In January 2023, AU landed a $1 million ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help retain and develop STEM faculty-particularly women and scholars from underrepresented communities. To date, NSF has invested $270 million in supporting ADVANCE projects at more than 100 institutions.

At AU, the initiative-which is also in part funded by the Office of the Provost-provides research support, mentoring, and development grants and builds equity in tenure, promotion, and reappointment.

During two days in Warrenton, Virginia, the two cohorts split up for group sessions about topics like setting and achieving goals, reaching tenure, and navigating reappointment.

"The retreat was well organized and just a beautiful opportunity to connect with colleagues across different schools," said School of Education senior professorial lecturer Charity Jones, the the director of clinical faculty for the City Teaching Alliance Program. "When you work in one specific school, you sometimes stay in your silo. To have an opportunity to connect with colleagues across the university was totally worth giving up your weekend."

Along the way, both cohorts also met with school deans and AU leaders including Monica Jackson, dean of faculty; Diana Burley, vice provost for research and innovation; Bridget Trogden, dean for undergraduate education and academic student services; and Nkenge Friday, vice president of inclusive excellence.

A highlight of the weekend for education librarian Hannah Park, a member of the associate professor cohort, was getting a chance to have intimate conversations with and learn from those AU leaders who have navigated similar career paths.

"For us, the turning point came when we talked with Diana Burley," Park said. "She talked very frankly about her own career trajectory. That was a very memorable part of the retreat-hearing other people's experiences, especially this woman of color who was so open with us and generous with her time."

In between workshops, participants also toured Airlie Berkshire Farm, gathered for meals together, and enjoyed s'mores by the fire with colleagues they don't interact with every day. Those activities by the fire were more than fun-they helped launch a full year of regular meetings for the cohorts to continue the work started at Airlie.

"We won't make it a one-and-done," Jones said. "We'll get together, we'll talk about some of the things we experienced and tried to implement within our own teams. It'll be our glows and grows, and that continued sharing then allows us to learn and grow."

ADVANCE AU offers professional development opportunities open to all faculty, including upcoming workshops shared through a LinkedIn group.

"Just because you aren't part of the peer cohort doesn't mean you can't avail yourself of the other advancement opportunities," Doshi said. "We really want to get as many faculty involved as possible."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.