The Office for Professional Academic Development (OPAD) is piloting a Leadership Mentoring Programme (LMP) to support newly appointed and early-career Heads of Departments (HoDs). 

The transition to a leadership role presents complex challenges that extend beyond academic expertise. Effective departmental leadership requires strategic decision-making, interpersonal acumen, administrative proficiency, and a strong sense of institutional culture and values. The LMP facilitates the development of these capacities through tailored guidance and mentoring, thereby strengthening departmental leadership and contributing to the achievement of the departmental and UM objectives.

The LMP pairs new/early career HoDs (mentees) with experienced senior academics, including former HoDs, Deans, and Directors (mentors) who provide guidance, share knowledge and offer ongoing support over several months. The programme consists of structured meetings, goal-setting, progress evaluations, and feedback mechanisms to ensure meaningful development. 

Through the LMP, the mentees may strengthen their capacity in areas such as:

• Strategic planning and the setting of departmental goals
• Leading and managing academic and administrative teams
• Navigating university governance structures and processes
• Managing conflict and exercising sound decision-making
• Planning workloads and allocating resources effectively
• Supporting staff development and conducting performance reviews
• Promoting excellence in research, teaching, and service
• Building a positive and collaborative departmental culture

Mentoring within the LMP is conceived as a reciprocal process. While mentees receive personalised support in addressing the responsibilities of departmental leadership, mentors benefit from renewed perspectives and reflective dialogue. This exchange fosters collegiality, encourages critical self-reflection, and contributes to the development of leadership capacity across the institution.

Programme details

• Programme time-line - The pilot LMP is running from October 2025 to September 2026.
  
  
• Orientation session - The mentees and mentors attended an orientation session on Wednesday 29 October facilitated by an international expert on academic mentoring. This session outlined the expectations and established a roadmap for the mentoring relationship.
  
  
• Mentoring sessions - These sessions, being held between November 2025 and July 2026, involve structured meetings between the mentee and mentor. The frequency and format of these confidential meetings depend on the mentee-mentor agreement.
  
  
• Final meeting - The pilot LMP concludes with a meeting (September 2026) where feedback on the mentoring experience will be shared and areas for improvement will be explored.

The pilot LMP, organised by OPAD, complements and builds on the work done at the faculty/departmental level to support the newly appointed HoDs.

The mentee-mentor discussions are confidential, ensuring an open and trusting environment where the mentee can freely discuss challenges, seek advice, and receive feedback.

We are grateful to the mentors for generously giving their time to support their colleagues.

Prof. Noellie Brockdorff, Prof. Sandro Caruana and Prof. Maureen Cole are the academic leads of this pilot initiative.

Requests for more information or queries may be addressed to lmp.opad@um.edu.mt.