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The Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence

Mentoring Programs

Faculty mentoring plays a vital role in our professional growth and collective success. Through formal mentoring partnerships, mentors and mentees connect to share guidance, career advice, and professional networks. This relationship is intended to be a collaborative and a mutually beneficial partnership.

Research indicates that junior faculty members who received mentoring averaged 0.4 more NSF or NIH grants and 3 additional publications and were 25% more likely to have a top-tier publication than faculty without mentors (Blau et all (2010) American Economic Review, 100:348-52). Ibarra et.al., 2010; Bickel, 2014 have also found that mentoring is important for women and minority faculty.

Types of Mentoring

  • Traditional Mentoring: One mentor (senior faculty member) and one or more mentees
  • Peer Mentoring: A group of faculty at similar stages in their career

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Session Details

This session will demonstrate that practical risk management is for everyone, regardless of a formal program. Attendees will learn actionable and simple strategies that are easy to implement, enabling them to start immediately by focusing on their top risks to build greater operational resilience and ensure the sustained success of their auxiliary enterprises.

Presenter Profile

Michelle Powell serves as the pioneering Risk Manager at Florida Polytechnic University, the state’s sole 100% STEM-dedicated institution. Having been with the university for nearly 11 years, Michelle transitioned from a leadership role in Admissions in October 2023 to establish and evolve the risk management function from the ground up. In this solo capacity, Michelle builds robust frameworks for our dynamic, young university, overseeing our insurance portfolio, consulting on third-party and event risks, and developing critical campus-wide training programs. Michelle has obtained the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) Enterprise Risk Management certificate and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designations. Her distinct background in mathematics and engineering, combined with extensive higher education leadership, brings an analytical and strategic approach enhancing the institution’s resilience.

Dr. Lily Li is a Professor of Physics at Florida Polytechnic University, where she specializes in materials science, analytical imaging, advanced manufacturing, and biomedical devices. Prior to joining Florida Poly in 2025, she spent 11 years at SUNY Potsdam, where she advanced to Full Professor and developed a 3-2 Engineering dual-degree program with Clarkson University. Her work emphasizes experiential learning and research-driven education to prepare students for careers in STEM fields.