Frechette Named 2024 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award Winner
The award recognizes the critically important work faculty members perform in mentoring and supporting their colleagues.
Content
Senior Lecturer II of Kinesiology Eliza Frechette has been named one of the nine winners of the 2024 UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award.
The ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Awards for each college recognize the invaluable contributions of faculty members in mentoring and supporting their colleagues' professional development. The winners, selected from a competitive pool of nominees, were honored by Wilmore Webley, Senior Vice Provost for Equity & Inclusion, and Michael Malone, Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, at the ADVANCE Annual Distinguished Lecture and Awards Reception, held March 27 at the Campus Center.
Frechette serves as the kinesiology undergraduate program director. As one nominator stated, Frechette “effortlessly and tirelessly models effective communication, inclusion, and advocacy for all. She is a “natural” at peer mentoring, but that term might belie the fact that mentoring is something Eliza works on with great dedication.” Another nominator describes how the care and compassion with which Frechette handled a delicate situation taught him how best to support and advocate for students. Another celebrates the care she took in walking a new faculty member through a difficult first semester, including navigating their first academic misconduct case, and forging mentorship networks to help her balance the demands of pre-tenure work and new motherhood. Frechette’s peer mentoring has made a difference.