This digest discusses the use of faculty mentoring programs to empower faculty and ultimately benefit the institution and improve the quality of higher education. It refers to the literature on mentoring in terms of conceptual frameworks, mentoring arenas, and roles and functions of mentors and proteges. It briefly addresses the following aspects of mentoring: (1) the value of mentoring in the higher education setting; (2) the use of mentoring to empower college faculty; (3) the use of mentoring to develop faculty leadership skills; (4) the importance of fitting any mentoring program to the specific culture and environment of a given institution; (5) recommendations for institutions (such as providing recognition to those who participate and providing support through institutional resources; and (6) the need for research to identify successful programs and examine the specific benefits of mentoring of female and minority faculty members. (Contains six references.) (DB)