This paper provides a case example of developing a faculty mentoring program at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) using the DEJI systems engineering model. AFIT is the United States of America’s graduate school of engineering and management, and technical professional continuing education for the Air Force. AFIT is a military organization with an education mission. AFIT provides advanced education to the Air Force and other military and government organizations. The faculty is composed of military and civilian educators. The military faculty rotates on average every three years from their faculty positions into other Air Force assignments. Therefore, this environment requires an adaptive and agile faculty mentoring program to accommodate military and civilian faculty members and facilitate expedient adaptation to their new roles.
This work provides a model for evaluating a formal mentoring structure at AFIT. The goals of the mentoring program are to:
1. Enhance the opportunity for new faculty to engender a sense of belonging
2. Improve new faculty’s understanding of their roles and responsibilities
3. Support teaching and research excellence
4. Encourage collaboration and cross-disciplinary engagement
The case example presented utilizes the DEJI systems engineering model, which advocates a structured approach that can be followed to Design, Evaluate, Justify, and Integrate elements of any new work design. In this particular case example, a New Faculty Development and Mentoring (NFDM) program is illustrated to enhance faculty development in higher education for an unconventional educational environment, such as the Air Force graduate school. The structure of the mentoring program including the embedded evaluation processes will be presented, as well as preliminary results from data collection and how data will be used in a feedback loop of continuous quality improvement.
Dr. Sharon Claxton Bommer is an Assistant Professor, at the University of Dayton in the Department of Engineering Management, Systems and Technology. She earned a Ph.D. in Engineering with concentration in Industrial and Human Systems. Her research focus is human performance and cognition.
Dr. Alice Grimes is the Director of Faculty Development for the Air Force Institute of Technology. She holds a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and a MBA from Urbana University.
http://orcid.org/https://ORCiD.org/0000-0003-0505-8220
Air Force Institute of Technology
[biography]
Prof. Badiru is Dean and senior academic officer for the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). He has oversight for planning, directing, and controlling operations related to granting doctoral and master’s degrees, professional continuing cyber education, and research and development programs. He was previously Professor and Head of Systems Engineering and Management at the AFIT, Professor and Department Head of Industrial & Information Engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and Professor of Industrial Engineering and Dean of University College at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. He is a registered professional engineer (PE), a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering. His areas of interest include mathematical modeling, project modeling and analysis, economic analysis, systems engineering, and efficiency/productivity analysis & improvement.
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