New Faculty Peer Mentoring Program

This program (being offered at no cost to tenure track faculty on all 64 SUNY campuses) began as a collaboration between the Center for Mentoring, Learning and Academic Innovation (CMLAI) SUNY Empire State University and the SUNY Center for Professional Development (CPD).

The SUNY New Faculty Peer Mentoring Program is designed to support the work of new tenure track colleagues in their first two years across the State University of New York. This Peer Mentoring Program offers new faculty an opportunity to talk about vital issues as teachers, scholars and advisors.

How it Works:

The program consists of a series of regular online meetings facilitated by Empire State University & CPD faculty and staff, and previous program participants (current SUNY faculty serving as peer facilitators).The SUNY New Faculty Peer Mentoring Program is designed to support the work of new tenure track colleagues in their first two years across the State University of New York. This Peer Mentoring Program offers new faculty an opportunity to talk about vital issues as teachers, scholars and advisors. This informal, group-oriented, and participant-directed program has two goals:

Build community and connection among new SUNY faculty
Provide peer support in navigating various aspects of the faculty role – teaching, mentoring/advising, service, scholarship (and more)

The meetings have an “open-mic” format with no set agenda other than the issues, questions and problems faced by new faculty. These one hour sessions will serve as opportunities for new faculty to share concerns and to get feedback from others. These sessions are intended as nonjudgmental forums; no questions are inconsequential; discussions among colleagues stay within the confines of our group. It is not required that you attend every session if you have a conflict with one or more. However, the Open Mics will not be recorded in order to maintain confidentiality for the participants.

Session Dates & Registration

Registration for Spring 2025 now open!

The meetings will take place in Zoom every other week on Mondays, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm:

January 27, 2025

February 10, 2025

February 24, 2025

March 10, 2025

March 24, 2025

April 7, 2025

April 21, 2025

May 5, 2025

Meet the Facilitators:

Shantih Clemans

Shantih Clemans is an associate professor/mentor in Human Services at SUNY Empire State University and one of the first facilitators (with Chris Price and Alan Mandell) of the SUNY Open Mic project. With a prior professional career in social work, specifically in the practice areas of trauma and group work, Shantih has taught courses to Human Services students that pulled from her direct work in the social work field. Shantih has published and presented on topics including group work with survivors of trauma, vicarious trauma, staff supervision, cultural competency, and most recently, the complexity and rewards of teaching and mentoring adult students. Shantih is also an illustrator and comic artist.

Shantih is the previous director of SUNY Empire’s Center for Mentoring, Learning and Academic Innovation (CMLAI).

Alan Mandell

Alan Mandell is Professor Emeritus at SUNY Empire State University and SUNY Distinguished Service Professor. For more than 40 years, he has served as mentor, administrator and faculty in the Social Sciences and created workshops and consulted on various aspects of adult learning. With Lee Herman he has written extensively about the role of the mentor, including the book, From Teaching to Mentoring: Principles and Practice, Dialogue and Life in Adult Education. With Elana Michelson, he has written about experiential learning, portfolio development and current issues in adult education (including the recently edited, “Adult Learning in the Age of Trump and Brexit”), and with Xenia Coulter, he regularly writes about and edits materials on learning and higher education (including the recently edited, “Adult Educators on Dewey’s Experience and Education”). Recognition includes the Eugene Sullivan Award for Leadership, the SUNY Chancellor’s award for Excellence in Teaching, and for Professional Services, the ESU Foundation Award in Mentoring, and the Turben Chair in Adult Learning and Mentoring. In 2023, he received the Morris T. Keeton award from CAEL, The Council on Adult and Experiential Learning.

Together, Clemans and Mandell regularly have worked together in creating and facilitating a wide range of activities focused on supporting colleagues in their multiple faculty roles.

Christopher Price

Christopher Price is the Academic Programs Manager for the State University of New York (SUNY) Center for Professional Development (CPD). At the CPD, Chris designs and implements professional development programs for faculty and staff both in and outside SUNY. He is an active member of the Professional and Organization Development (POD) Network serving as a member of the Core Committee in 2020-2022, Chair of the Professional Development Committee in 2018-19, and Chair of the 2017 Institute for New Faculty Developers. Prior to his position at the CPD, Chris was Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at SUNY Brockport for 12 years. He started working at Brockport after receiving his PhD in Political Science from the University at Albany in 2004. Chris continues to teach online for Brockport as an instructor in the Master and Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies programs. He has been invited to give a keynote address or presentation over twenty times at conferences and campuses across the U.S. Teaching, learning, and educational development workshops and presentations Chris has conducted include discussion-based teaching, communicating effectively with students, collaborative learning, academic integrity, teaching with technology, course design and using critical reflection to improve teaching and learning. In 2013, he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service

Rose Calixte

Rose Calixte, PhD, is a PStat® accredited Biostatistician and an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University School of Public Health. She is also a TRANSPORT Junior Faculty Fellow. Her main research interest is in child health outcomes with a particular interest in factors that are associated with health care utilization in children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and barriers to access to care in CSHCN. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from The City College of New York and a PhD in Statistics from Stony Brook University.

Katie Griffes

Katie Griffes is an Assistant Professor in the Sport and Exercise Science Department at SUNY Oneonta. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Olivet College, and a PhD in Kinesiology, with a concentration in Sport Psychology, from Michigan State University. Katie’s research interests focus on leadership development for athletes, as well as developing character and life skills through sport, particularly for young women. In the classroom, Katie is dedicated to using alternative pedagogical approaches to teaching, including experiential learning, mastery grading, and ungrading practices. Outside of the classroom, Katie serves as a Faculty Mentor for the SUNY Oneonta Women’s Lacrosse Team, and an Assistant Coach for Mental Skills for the Hartwick College Women’s Tennis Team.

Bryan Picciotto

Bryan Picciotto, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Communication and Media Department and part of the new Sustainability cohort at SUNY Oneonta. As a teacher-scholar, Bryan aims to empower people, through communication theories and practices, to build communities amid difference. In the classroom, he engages active learning strategies that create space for dialogue and empathy, and received honors for his experiential pedagogy, including the Innovative and Creative Teaching Award from the University of Maine. His teaching connects to his research in the field of rhetoric, where he explores embodied experience as a form of communication and social change, with current projects analyzing the tourism industry and outdoor recreational culture.

Brandon A. Wright

Brandon A. Wright is an Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing in the theatre department at SUNY Binghamton. He holds an MFA in Acting and considers himself a teaching-artist. In addition to his course load, Professor Wright also directs regularly for the department. Additionally, Professor Wright serves as the faculty facilitator of the DIA (Diversity in Action) Committee for the department where he strives to broaden efforts towards Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access both within the theatre department and across the campus community. An active performer, Professor Wright spent much of the 2022-23 year as a company member of the Broadway National Tour of A Soldier’s Play. Professor Wright is the recipient of the 2023-24 Presidential Diversity Research Grant. He is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership where his research focus is the impact of arts education on black male students.

Rabab Aoun

Rabab Aoun, Ph.D., is a chemistry instructor at the Laboratory Science Department of SUNY Jefferson Community College. She is passionate about being an exceptional educator and focused on discovering the path to greatness in teaching. She believes in her student’s potential and is inspired when they overcome their challenges and uncover the secrets for their success. She received a Ph.D in Chemistry from Wayne State University, MI. Beyond teaching, she finds pleasure in walking through nature and applying her chemistry expertise to enhance recipes for better cooking.

Africa S. Hands

Africa S. Hands is assistant professor in the department of information science at University at Buffalo. As a first-generation faculty member, she enjoys helping new faculty navigate the hidden curriculum of the academy. Her research bridges information and education through its focus on two lines of inquiry: 1) education-related information access within marginalized and underserved communities and 2) professional education and experiences of library and information science (LIS) students, especially those who identify as first-generation students. Her work has been published in the Journal for Education of Library and Information Science, Education for Information, and Information and Learning Sciences. She holds a PhD in information ecology from Queensland University of Technology and an MLIS from San José State University.

Contact Us

For questions, please contact:

Chris Price, Academic Program Manager at chris.price@suny.edu or Lynn Ann Hinds McCoy at LynnAnn.HindsMcCoy@suny.edu