College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Faculty & Staff

The CANR Faculty Mentoring Initiative

An evidence-informed, college-wide approach to strengthening faculty success through mentoring.

About the CANR Faculty Mentoring Initiative

The CANR Faculty Mentoring Initiative represents an ongoing effort to translate evidence-informed mentoring principles into sustainable institutional practice while contributing to broader scholarship on faculty mentoring, faculty development, and organizational implementation.

The initiative brings together institutional policy, faculty development, implementation resources, and mentoring best practices into a coordinated framework that supports faculty across career stages and appointment types.

Rather than introducing a new mentoring program, the initiative was designed to strengthen and connect existing mentoring efforts across the college while providing academic units with practical guidance, shared expectations, and adaptable resources that reflect the diversity of disciplines and faculty roles within CANR.

This website serves as both the operational home of the initiative and a living repository documenting its ongoing development, implementation, evaluation, and scholarly dissemination.

Why This Initiative Matters

While developed to support CANR faculty, the initiative also contributes to broader conversations about faculty mentoring, faculty development, and organizational implementation in higher education by demonstrating how evidence-informed mentoring principles can be translated into sustainable institutional practice.

Scholarship

The initiative contributes to broader conversations about faculty mentoring, faculty development, organizational implementation, and institutional change.

Executive Summary

Faculty Mentoring Executive Summary [PDF]

Suggested citation:

Mollaoglu, S. (2026). CANR Faculty Mentoring Initiative: Executive Summary. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University.

Website

Suggested citation:

Mollaoglu, S. (2026). Faculty Mentoring in CANR. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/facultystaff/Faculty-Mentoring-in-CANR/

From Concept to Implementation

• Review of mentoring practices across CANR
• Faculty engagement and feedback
• Revision of the CANR Faculty Mentoring Policy
• Development of practical resources for mentors, mentees, and academic units
• Development of professional development programming
• Creation of this centralized mentoring website
• Establishment of a framework for continuous improvement

Continuous Learning and Improvement

This initiative continues to evolve alongside faculty careers, institutional priorities, and emerging evidence. The website will continue to grow through updated resources, faculty feedback, assessment findings, professional development programming, examples of effective practices, and scholarship related to faculty mentoring and faculty development.

Collaboration

The CANR Faculty Mentoring Initiative reflects the contributions of faculty, academic unit leaders, Faculty Affairs, college leadership, and numerous colleagues across the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Institutions interested in learning more about the initiative or adapting aspects of the framework are encouraged to contact the CANR Office of Faculty Affairs.

Initiative Leadership

The CANR Faculty Mentoring Initiative was led by Sinem Mollaoglu, Faculty Excellence Advocate for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in collaboration with the CANR Office of Faculty Affairs, academic unit leadership, faculty mentors, and college administration.