Tenure Track Supper Club

Tenure Track Supper Club

The Tenure Track Supper Club (TTSC) at Metropolitan State University of Denver is a faculty retention program that utilizes mentorship as a tool in the retention of minority faculty. The program was originated by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in 2011. Given the disproportionate retention rates of African American faculty at the university, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion developed the Faculty Success Mentorship Program for African American faculty. Over the years, the program has grown to provide all tenure track faculty of color with the tools necessary to increase their capacity to earn tenure. The program now welcomes tenure track faculty from all underrepresented populations and introduces them to tenured faculty who help them build on skills that they have in order to increase their chances of earning tenure.

Goals of the TTSC

This program is voluntary and focuses on current junior faculty from underrepresented populations, who are between 1-5 years in their tenure track journey. This program is designed with the overarching goal of providing tenure track faculty with the intellectual and structural tools to increase their capacity to earn tenure. This key element of the mentorship program is beneficial to those who may be in their 4^th and 5^th years.  Other goals of the TTSC are to:

• Increase the concentration of faculty support networks
• Increase the number of faculty mentorship relationships across the institution and promote interdisciplinary dialogue
• Understand the tenure process at Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Develop self-imposed goals to increase chances for tenure and promotion
• Increase the number of faculty earning tenure
• Increase opportunities to create systemic change at MSU Denver

The TTSC is not a one or two-year mentorship program, but a program that typically will last six years, ending when the mentee has successfully earned tenure. The mentee’s earning of tenure will be the only measure of success for the mentor and mentee relationship and the mentorship program. Many attendees have returned and assumed positions as mentors to current tenure track colleagues. The transformative nature of the mentorship program provides tenure track faculty with the opportunity to create systemic change at the institution.