Mentorship

 THE ALPS MENTORING COMMITTEE offers additional ways of engaging with the larger ALPS community. In addition to keeping members connected throughout the year in online “Office Hours” discussion groups, we sponsor an annual mentoring and scholarly exchange matching program and provide a safe space for emergency mentoring consultations.

Office Hours

“ALPS Office Hours” is a community-building forum for members to get together and chat about whatever is on their minds. We start each one with facilitation and a theme, but conversation from there is free to go wherever participants direct it. It is a purposefully open forum: there is no homework, no preparation, and no need to RSVP or register—just show up ready for conversation! We generally hold three Office Hours gatherings each year, during the quarters when we are not meeting in person. Join the ALPS listserv for invitations to Office Hour discussions and links for participation.

Mentor Match and Scholarly Exchange

ALPS has facilitated many rewarding relationships among our membership over the years through our annual mentoring and exchange programs. Near the beginning of each calendar year, we invite members to seek guidance or offer mentoring through a program that partners members with related research agendas, teaching specialties, geographical areas, or any other interests that may be well-served in a mentoring relationship or peer exchange.

Mentoring relationships between senior and junior faculty remain the heart of our program, but we also provide for mid-career matches, either from a senior colleague or within a more experientially parallel exchange. And while many participants continue their partnerships beyond the initial year of matching, members remain free to initiate a new match annually if they wish.

Join the ALPS listserv to receive the annual invitation to participate, which usually comes out in mid to late January. You can volunteer to participate as either as a mentor, a mentee, or in a peer exchange—or in more than one category.

Safe Space

And as always, the committee remains open to anyone, junior or senior, looking for support from within our community. Committee members are available for a quiet conversation about a professional concern, to chat about a tricky scholarship conundrum, or just a safe space. Feel free to email the Chair or any other members of the Mentoring Committee for this purpose.

New Members

Finally, the Mentoring Committee always welcomes new members, so please email the Committee Chair if you would like to get more involved.

- Erin Ryan, FSU Law School, Mentoring Committee Chair