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Rutherford takes a leadership role in advancing faculty mentoring

Today
By Ann Hess, U of A Nursing, Office of Marketing & Communications

The College of Nursing will strengthen its connection to university-wide faculty development initiatives through the appointment of Julienne Rutherford, PhD, professor and John and Nell Mitchell Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing at the college, as co-faculty director of the university’s MENTOR (Mentorship through Effective Networking, Transformational Opportunities, and Research) Institute. 

Working with Vice Provost Andrea Romero, Institute Director Tara Chandler, and Co-Faculty Director Melissa Barnett, Rutherford will help advance mentoring education, certification, assessment, and program development. Her responsibilities include supporting the MENTOR Fellows program, which brings together faculty and graduate students from across the university to develop and facilitate the Mentoring Community Dialogue Series.

For the College of Nursing, this work complements its ongoing commitment to developing clinicians, educators, and researchers. Effective mentoring can help faculty navigate academic career paths, strengthen their teaching and research, and prepare for leadership roles and advancement.

Rutherford brings extensive experience as both a mentor and a faculty leader. Throughout her career, she has mentored students across academic programs and faculty members in career- and tenure-track positions. At the College of Nursing, she has chaired the promotion and tenure committee for several years and leads a weekly faculty writing group. Rutherford’s accomplishments also include multiple teaching awards, scholarly contributions to the study of academic workplace harassment, and effective mentoring.

“Dr. Rutherford is a truly gifted mentor to faculty and students alike. She brings a thoughtful, research-focused orientation to faculty professional development,” said Rachel Adler, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, AGNP-C, professor and chair of Nursing and Health Sciences. “I am proud of her leadership at the MENTOR Institute and appreciate the opportunity for the College of Nursing to contribute to such an important and impactful university-wide mentoring initiative.”

Rutherford’s mentoring approach is shaped by her experiences. Early in her academic career, she benefited from individual mentors and from the National Institutes of Health Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health program. She later pursued mentoring training and facilitation through the National Research Mentoring Network.

Those experiences inform her philosophy on helping mentees identify meaningful next steps aligned with their professional goals and personal values.

“I think of mentoring not simply as helping individuals achieve specific goals, but as creating developmental environments where people can discover their strengths, build confidence, and grow into their professional identities,” Rutherford said.

The MENTOR Institute is a university-wide initiative within the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs that strengthens mentoring by equipping faculty and graduate students with the skills, resources, and connections to support professional growth. Through mentoring education, certification, and facilitated community dialogues, the institute helps participants develop effective mentoring practices and build cross-disciplinary relationships. Offerings are available online in both synchronous and asynchronous formats to accommodate different schedules and needs.

For College of Nursing faculty, these resources offer opportunities to strengthen mentoring practices, exchange ideas with colleagues across the university, and gain support as they navigate diverse academic career paths. Rutherford’s role also creates a two-way opportunity for the college to contribute its expertise in mentoring clinicians, educators, and researchers while learning from approaches developed across other disciplines.

Rutherford views mentoring as an investment that extends beyond the individuals directly involved. The guidance people receive early in their careers can shape how they support others, leaving a lasting influence on students, educators, and researchers.

“By investing in mentoring, universities are investing not only in the success of current faculty and students but also in the future generations of scholars they will support,” she said.