Peer Mentor Program
The mentor program was created as a sub-category of the Lilly “Sense of Vocation” grant, because we felt that students themselves play a vital role in helping their peers discern their goals both in and beyond Luther College. We wanted first or second-year students to see successful upper-class students as role models who might help them attend not only to the activities and demands of a particular course, but also to the successful integration of college life as a whole.
This model of collaboration is an extension of work in the sciences, where students often serve as either research or lab assistants. The Sense of Vocation peer mentor program aims to extend that type of mentoring relationship, with the focus on a particular course or subject area. In this case, the key ingredient is that the mentor is helping other students, so that the mentoring relationship extends both from faculty to student, as well as from student to student. In that sense, peer mentors are not really “research assistants” or “teaching assistants,” but rather, experienced students who can help less experienced peers make the most out of course work or content. Peer mentors are paid an hourly wage, funded through the Sense of Vocation program.
The program has had its most significant impact on Paideia I, with close to 30 sections using the peer mentors. In addition to Paideia I, peer mentors have worked in courses within biology, modern languages, and religion/philosophy. Peer mentors can help with:
- One-on-one consulting regarding content questions or writing assignments;
- Facilitating with special projects at key moments in syllabus;
- Helping students understand the place of a single course within the larger discipline;
- Providing informal support and guidance on “how to navigate” a course or major;
- Helping students prepare for major examinations
The program was also designed to provide a significant educational experience for the mentor, by connecting an upper-class student with a faculty member who then serves in a mentoring role. By recruiting a mentor for your course, you have the opportunity to help a junior or senior student see decisions about pedagogy or method as an insider, and your conversations should enrich the mentor’s own work in discerning possible career paths beyond Luther.
The program works best in any course where there is a significant population of first-year students, or where the instructor has a specific set of goals identified for the mentor to address. In addition, the program can flourish where a faculty member knows of a particular student whose goals and talents are suited for this type of work. The program does not require a great burden of time, but there should be some consistent interaction between the instructor and the mentor, and it helps if the mentor can occasionally attend some of the class meetings, although this isn’t required. To compensate faculty for the additional time they spend organizing the mentor’s activities and evaluating the effectiveness of the program, the Sense of Vocation will provide a modest stipend for faculty members who recruit a mentor.