Faculty mentoring as a strategy for supporting remote/online teaching and learning

Presenters

Susan Ko, Associate Director, Faculty Development & Instructional Technology, Office of Online Education, Lehman College
Olena Zhadko, Director, Office of Online Education, Lehman College
Natasha Nurse, Assistant Professor, Nursing, Lehman College

Abstract

In the wake of the pandemic which required all classes to quickly move to remote teaching, Lehman’s small Office of Online Education was hard pressed to quickly provide training and ongoing support to faculty who were new to online teaching and learning. This unprecedented need resulted in the piloting of an online faculty peer mentoring program that would allow each school to be represented by experienced faculty mentors available to assist their colleagues with problems and questions regarding both technology and pedagogy, as well as related issues that might arise in regard to delivering courses entirely online, whether synchronously, asynchronously, or a combination of these. This program proved so successful in enhancing and expanding the resources of our unit and complementing our preparatory and continuing support efforts that it has been strengthened and renewed to run for three additional semesters. While focused on faculty needs, the end goal of this faculty mentoring program is to support faculty in their efforts to design, plan, implement, and facilitate more effective online teaching and learning for the benefit of their students. Staff from the Office of Online Education will briefly explain how the program is structured, and the support and preparation provided to mentors. One of the faculty mentors will be on hand to discuss her experience in this role and reflect on the types of questions and issues encountered in the initial and subsequent semesters of mentoring