The Staff Mentoring Program (SMP) is designed to foster the career growth of new faculty members who are at the levels of Lecturer and Assistant Professor. This initiative matches these new faculty members with experienced peers from their department, offering them beneficial guidance throughout their initial year of instruction at UIC.

During Semester 1 of 2024-2025, the SMP organized three workshops under the guidance of Dr. Edith Yan, an Educational Developer at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). The workshops focused on creating engaging English-medium instruction (EMI) classrooms and fostering effective mentoring relationships.

Workshop 1: Cultivating Mentoring Relationships: Aligning Expectations (10 October 2024)

This workshop explored the foundations of effective mentoring relationships and introduced five key themes of outstanding mentors. Participants were encouraged to self-assess and build their mentoring networks in pair discussions, emphasizing the importance of diverse mentoring sources and active cultivation of beneficial mentoring relationships.

Participants Sharing Their Opinions in the Workshop

Workshop 2: Creating an Active Learning English-Medium Instruction (EMI) Environment (16 Oct 2024)

This workshop was designed to help instructors create an active learning EMI environment and provided a range of practical strategies and action plans. Participants learned the concept of active learning and the INSPIRE model. Mentors and mentees shared challenges they have encountered in promoting active learning and talked about their strategies for effectively promoting active learning in EMI environments.

Post-Workshop Group Photo

Workshop 3: Implementing and Reflecting Active Learning in EMI Contexts (10 December 2024)

This workshop focused on reflecting the active learning strategies implemented in participants’ EMI classrooms. Associate Vice President Prof. Yu Huang presented certificates to mentors and mentees, recognizing their dedication to the program. Participants reviewed the INSPIRE model and case studies of active learning strategies. They also shared and discussed how to integrate active learning into the practical experience of teaching. At the end of the workshop, the prospect of establishing an active learning EMI community of practice was raised.

Prof. Huang Presenting Certificates to a Mentor-Mentee Pair

Group Photo After Presenting the Certificates

In summary, the three SMP workshops have offered a platform to explore innovative teaching methods and promotes communication and cooperation among teachers. The program enables faculty mentors and mentees to address classroom challenges and enhance the learning experience for all students.