By Catherine Gray Beuten
Integrated University Communications

Nobody said it would – or maybe even should – be easy, but the tenure process should not seem insurmountable, either. The Tenure Track Mentorship Program through the Center for Faculty Development is there to help

Omar Swartz, associate professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Science’s Department of Communication, knows all too well the difficulties facing educators in their quest to achieve tenure, and how outstanding guidance can go a long, long way.

“There were some contentious issues surrounding my tenure case,” Swartz explains.  “It made it a difficult psychological environment in which to come up for tenure. As a result, the thing that I was most suffering from was a lack of perspective on the entire process. The mentoring program and my mentor Rod Muth in particular were instrumental in helping me gain that perspective.”

Muth, professor of administrative leadership and policy studies in the School of Education and Human Development, has mentored three faculty members through the program and numerous others in other programs during his 40-year career. “I was struck by Omar’s intensity and his concern about whether he would get tenure,” he says. “To me it was a slam dunk because of the breadth and depth of his accomplishments.”

The mentorship program, launched in 2006 by the Center for Faculty Development, has helped several Downtown Campus faculty achieve their tenure goals. Swartz is quick to name the exact date he got the good news: April 2, 2008.

“Rod had the experience and understanding of the administrative culture and the past history of other tenure cases and issues associated with them on this campus to give me perspective on my case,” Swartz explains. “The tenure process can be tremendously alienating and difficult on one’s self-concept. People don’t tell you what’s going on; you really don’t know how people feel about you – you might think you know, but you don’t really know – and affirmative messages really don’t come into well into the process.”

Muth stresses that creating trust is an important part of mentoring. “Each mentee-mentor relationship is different,” he says. “Each requires an open approach; after all, it is a relationship that needs building.”

Swartz was buoyed by Muth’s experience – both in life and academia – and his unwavering confidence in him.  “The way he affirms what I do and the way that I do it is so refreshing,” Swartz says. “Certainly there were other people who were good to me and who treated me with respect and dignity, but Rod was so affirming and accepting of who I am and what I have done that he really made me feel like I belong at this university.”

Having achieved his goal, Swartz has graduated in the program from “mentee” to “mentor.” “My mentee’s first semester here provided me with an importunity to discuss with him my perception of the campus culture and to let him know that there is someone outside of his department he can talk to,” he notes.  

The decision he would continue as a mentor, he says, was in fact made before he began working with Muth.

“My interaction with Director Ellen Stevens in late 2004 and early 2005 made me want to become involved with the Center for Faculty Development in a helping capacity as opposed to a receiving capacity,” he stresses. “I was touched by Ellen’s genuine care, concern and compassion during a period of my career in which those things were vitally important.”

Swartz strongly encourages tenured faculty and those desiring tenure to be an active part of the center program. “Without any hesitation, take advantage of it. It is a wonderful opportunity. Just getting out of one’s department and interacting with senior faculty from around the university in a non-stressful environment intended to promote retention and morale is inherently career affirming.”