Cultivating Mentors: Sharing Wisdom in Christian Higher Education

by Todd C. Ream (Editor), Jerry Pattengale (Editor), Christopher J. Devers (Editor), Mark R. Schwehn (Foreword by)

Overview

Many colleges and universities informally highlight the value of mentoring among academic professionals. Yet scholars often lack clear definitions, goals, practices, and commitments that help them actually reap the benefits mentoring offers. As new faculty members from younger generations continue to face evolving challenges while also reshaping institutions, their ability to connect with more experienced mentors is critical to their vocations—and to the future of higher education.

In Cultivating Mentors, a distinguished group of contributors explores the practice of mentoring in Christian higher education. Drawing on traditional theological understandings of the mentee-mentor relationship, they consider what goals should define such relationships and what practices make their cultivation possible among educators. With special attention to generational dynamics, they discuss how mentoring can help institutions navigate generational faculty transitions and cultivate rising leaders. Contributors include:

• David Kinnaman
• Tim Clydesdale
• Margaret Diddams
• Edgardo Colón-Emeric
• Rebecca C. Hong
• Tim Elmore
• Beck A. Taylor
• Stacy A. Hammons

This book offers valuable insights and practical recommendations for faculty members, administrators, and policy makers. Whether pursuing their vocation in Christian or secular institutions, Christian scholars will benefit from the sharing of wisdom mapped out in Cultivating Mentors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781514002537
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Todd C. Ream is professor of higher education at Taylor University, publisher of Christian Scholar's Review, and a senior fellow with the Lumen Research Institute.

Jerry Pattengale is university professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, codirector of the Lumen Research Institute, and associate publisher for Christian Scholar's Review.

Christopher J. Devers is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University in the School of Education and a senior fellow with the Lumen Research Institute.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Mark R. Schwehn
Acknowledgments

Introduction: A Season of Peril?
Todd C. Ream, Jerry Pattengale, Christopher J. Devers
1 The Need to Rediscover: Mentoring as a Crucial Formation Process
David Kinnaman
2 Leading Integrated Lives: Navigating Personal and Professional Commitments Through Mentorship
Tim Clydesdale
3 Call and Response: Mentoring for Organizational Fit and Flourishing
Margaret Diddams
4 Diversity and Community: Mentoring Toward a New We
Edgardo Colón-Emeric
5 Boomers to Zoomers: Mentoring Toward Human Centeredness in Our Work
Rebecca C. Hong
6 Intentional Influence: Relevant Practices and Habits We Must Cultivate in Today's Emerging Generation
Tim Elmore
7 Who Will Lead Us? A Life Cycle Approach to Academic Mentorship
Beck A. Taylor
Conclusion: A Season of Promise?
Stacy A. Hammons

Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

Edwin M. Yamauchi

"The editors of Cultivating Mentors have enlisted an outstanding group of experienced Christian educators who highlight the challenges of the younger generation of Christians, in particular Millennials and Gen Z, as revealed in thousands of interviews conducted by the Barna Group. The authors provide specific proposals to administrators for providing helpful mentoring for junior faculty at Christian colleges."

Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen

"The context for mentoring has changed enormously in recent years, and the roles of mentor and mentee now frequently oscillate. Cultivating Mentors explores this new terrain where generational differences and cultural diversities are taken seriously and where personal flourishing receives intensified attention. With insights from a multitude of organizational and generational perspectives, this volume will encourage fresh thinking across the full spectrum of institutional roles in Christian higher education."

Karen A. Lee

"Cultivating Mentors illustrates multiple ways to establish a healthy ecosystem for relational mentoring in an increasingly diverse academic landscape. With a focus on faculty flourishing and student success in the contexts of rapidly changing academic and professional environments, this timely volume directs educators to practical tools for cultivating faith and vocational discernment in tandem with fostering a powerful sense of faith-based community on their university campuses."

Nancy Brickhouse

"Good mentorship is one of the most powerful and sacred relationships we can offer to the future generation of leaders. This book is an invaluable resource for helping us think about how to establish and sustain these relationships."

Steven D. Mason

"The lasting impact and endurance of our Christian universities relies squarely on the strength and vitality of each generation of leaders—from student to professor to president—to sustain the mission through challenging times. Who among us in academia can imagine succeeding without forerunners who mentor us by making 'a way in the wilderness'? Cultivating Mentors: Sharing Wisdom in Christian Higher Education is a volume that places a call on each of us to cultivate collegial relationships at every age and stage to produce flourishing careers for flourishing institutions. With an impressive cadre of contributors that spans various roles within higher education, this book offers valuable insight and encouragement for all on the journey."

Mark A. Noll

"This book is aimed especially at leaders of Christian higher education, who in an age of digitization and diversity are recruiting the next generation of teacher-scholars for their schools. The contributors ground their assessment in a theology of vocation, they are alert to the changing culture of contemporary young adults, and they offer hard-won wisdom concerning the institutional dynamics of colleges and universities. Careful attention to theory seasoned by numerous specific examples make for unusually compelling reading."

Edee Schulze

"Scripture is replete with commands of cherishing ancient wisdom, living under truth, and teaching it to the next generations. Mentoring colleagues and students in higher education is one way to obey these commands in our vocation. The voices in this volume helps us be faithful in the good work of mentoring, from generation to generation. May the words herein provide instruction and inspiration to be faithful stewards of such a trust."

Todd L. Lake

"This outstanding book brings together desperately needed fresh thinking on mentorship from scholars who are real-life beneficiaries and practitioners of mentoring. These essays offer a kaleidoscopic look at the beauty of theologically informed mentorship and show us why it is so necessary. We can all be thankful that such a thoughtful guidebook is now available at this kairos moment in Christian higher education."

Editorial Reviews

"This outstanding book brings together desperately needed fresh thinking on mentorship from scholars who are real-life beneficiaries and practitioners of mentoring. These essays offer a kaleidoscopic look at the beauty of theologically informed mentorship and show us why it is so necessary. We can all be thankful that such a thoughtful guidebook is now available at this kairos moment in Christian higher education."

Todd L. Lake

"Good mentorship is one of the most powerful and sacred relationships we can offer to the future generation of leaders. This book is an invaluable resource for helping us think about how to establish and sustain these relationships."

Nancy Brickhouse

"Scripture is replete with commands of cherishing ancient wisdom, living under truth, and teaching it to the next generations. Mentoring colleagues and students in higher education is one way to obey these commands in our vocation. The voices in this volume helps us be faithful in the good work of mentoring, from generation to generation. May the words herein provide instruction and inspiration to be faithful stewards of such a trust."

Edee Schulze

"Cultivating Mentors illustrates multiple ways to establish a healthy ecosystem for relational mentoring in an increasingly diverse academic landscape. With a focus on faculty flourishing and student success in the contexts of rapidly changing academic and professional environments, this timely volume directs educators to practical tools for cultivating faith and vocational discernment in tandem with fostering a powerful sense of faith-based community on their university campuses."

Karen A. Lee

"The context for mentoring has changed enormously in recent years, and the roles of mentor and mentee now frequently oscillate. Cultivating Mentors explores this new terrain where generational differences and cultural diversities are taken seriously and where personal flourishing receives intensified attention. With insights from a multitude of organizational and generational perspectives, this volume will encourage fresh thinking across the full spectrum of institutional roles in Christian higher education."

Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen

"This book is aimed especially at leaders of Christian higher education, who in an age of digitization and diversity are recruiting the next generation of teacher-scholars for their schools. The contributors ground their assessment in a theology of vocation, they are alert to the changing culture of contemporary young adults, and they offer hard-won wisdom concerning the institutional dynamics of colleges and universities. Careful attention to theory seasoned by numerous specific examples make for unusually compelling reading."

Mark A. Noll

"The lasting impact and endurance of our Christian universities relies squarely on the strength and vitality of each generation of leaders—from student to professor to president—to sustain the mission through challenging times. Who among us in academia can imagine succeeding without forerunners who mentor us by making 'a way in the wilderness'? Cultivating Mentors: Sharing Wisdom in Christian Higher Education is a volume that places a call on each of us to cultivate collegial relationships at every age and stage to produce flourishing careers for flourishing institutions. With an impressive cadre of contributors that spans various roles within higher education, this book offers valuable insight and encouragement for all on the journey."

Steven D. Mason

"The editors of Cultivating Mentors have enlisted an outstanding group of experienced Christian educators who highlight the challenges of the younger generation of Christians, in particular Millennials and Gen Z, as revealed in thousands of interviews conducted by the Barna Group. The authors provide specific proposals to administrators for providing helpful mentoring for junior faculty at Christian colleges."

Edwin M. Yamauchi