At a college meeting I once attended, one of the department chairs accused the dean of not being transparent enough in the way she made decisions. The dean answered that it wasn’t that simple. Confidential matters were sometimes involved. She couldn’t violate the trust of people who had shared certain information with her. She needed to be discreet about personnel issues, and so on. There was a pause, and then the chair asked, “Well, if you can’t be transparent, can you at least be a little more translucent?”
Reciprocity over Hierarchy: Designing and Implementing a Student-Led Reverse Mentoring Program
Many academic leaders, including administrators and faculty members, participate in traditional mentoring programs that prioritize hierarchy. But these programs typically don’t foster engagement and connection between students and faculty or
Marquita Lyons-Smith and Keva Suitte
October 19, 2026
