Senior Academic Staff Mentoring: Dealing with a Challenging Concept

This article theorizes mentoring in higher education, particularly considering the gap that senior academic staff notice in terms of support after being granted tenure. Following discussions of the various definitions of the concept as well as the identification of its features and several operational models as found in the literature, the authors propose a model for mentoring of experienced college professors. The model in question capitalizes on parameters that characterize effective mentoring, while comparing the pre- and post-tenure experiences of senior academic staff. The focus of a prospective professional development program relying on mentoring should take into account contextual parameters that motivate seasoned college instructors as contributors to their institution’s knowledge base and positive culture.