Peer Mentoring

1
Peer Mentoring

• Mentor training

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Overview of Session

• Background to the Scheme
• Introduction to the Student Mentoring materials
• Practicalities
• Risk assessment and problem solving
• Questions

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What is a Mentor?

• A 2nd / 3rd year student, studying at Leeds
• Enthusiastic to share their experiences and offer
  support to new students
• A role model

4
What is a mentee?

• A new student, either home or international, who
  has chosen to participate in the scheme to help
  them become familiar with the University, living
  and studying in Leeds.

5
The Peer Mentoring Scheme

• Is a group mentoring scheme
• 2 mentors will be matched to 6-8 students
• All mentors will be trained and referenced
• Runs from September to Easter

6
Time commitment

• The initial training event
• Introductory event
• Initial month at least 1 hr/wk
• Thereafter email, phone, person to person contact
• Final evaluation
• Award Ceremony

7
Peer mentoring is NOT

• Advising
• Counselling
• Career experiment
• Decision making for others
• A dating agency
• Creating a dependency relationship
• Being expected to solve all problems

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Mentors .

• Listen
• Pass on information and knowledge
• Offer different perspectives
• Offer support, encouragement
• Share experiences
• Act as a role model
• Build confidence and self-reliance

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Mentors are

• Friendly and approachable manner
• Committed
• Reliable
• Non-judgemental
• Inspirational
• Trustworthy and honest
• Knowledgeable and able to signpost
• Good listener

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Mentoring skill set

• Good interpersonal skills
• Listening and communicating
• Good signposting
• Knowing whats available on and off campus
• Information gathering
• Knowing when and where to refer people

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Mentoring skill set continued

• Understanding and respecting boundaries
• Problem solving
• Confidentiality
• Time management
• Confidence building

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Structuring group meetings

• Be provocative, dont expect mentees to come up
  with questions
• Think ahead, bring relevant information/materials
• Consider having a theme for each session
• Be creative, keep meetings lively and purposeful

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What a mentor might need to know/cover

• Orientation and Freshers Week
• University Rules and Regulations
• Academic programme
• Accommodation
• Achieving a good study/life balance
• Making friends and getting involved
• LUU
• Societies
• Volunteering

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What a mentor might need to know/cover

• Where to go for help on campus
• Culture shock
• Transport and getting about
• Paid work how to find it and balance it with
  studies
• Financial problems
• Personal and career development

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Practicalities

• Signing on to a doctor and a dentist
• Budgeting and shopping
• Things to do in the city
• Free events (eg fireworks, Leeds lights)
• Film Festival
• Places of interest
• Galleries and museums
• Historical sites
• Parks
• Clubs and pubs

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Early on

• A Campus tour
• Academic
• Libraries
• Media Services
• Help desk and clusters
• Social
• Sports Centre
• Union

• A City Centre tour
• Transport
• Shopping
• Leeds Market
• Corn Exchange
• Places to eat
• Clubs/Bars/Coffee Shops
• Cinemas/theatres

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Student Support online

• Student support network website
• www.leeds.ac.uk/ssn
• Student Personal Development website
• http//tldynamic.leeds.ac.uk/spd/students.htm
• The Students Union
• www.luuonline.com
• Campusweb
• www.campus.leeds.ac.uk
• International Students Handbook
• www.leeds.ac.uk/international

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Online continued

• ISS
• http//www.leeds.ac.uk/iss/
• Library
• http//www.leeds.ac.uk/library/
• Media Services
• http//mediant.leeds.ac.uk/
• Language Centre
• http//www.leeds.ac.uk/languages/lc_home.html
• Access Academy and millennium volunteers
• http//www.leeds.ac.uk/external-affairs/city/

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Suggested places to meet up

• A coffee bar
• The Union
• Go for a meal
• An event or activity eg
• Bowling
• A campus event (Fair Trade week etc)
• The Art Gallery (nice coffee bar!)

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Timetable

• Training
• First meet event
• Arrange face to face meetings weekly for first
  month or so
• Make your meetings dynamic
• Keep in email contact
• After first month keep in regular contact
• Evaluation
• Celebration Event

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First social event

• Youll participate in some group activities
• Well go over the scheme together
• Youll swap contact details with your mentees
• Arrange the first meeting before you leave

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Paperwork

• Training is compulsory
• Your department will be asked to give a reference
  regarding your suitability for the scheme
• You will be asked to provide feedback to evaluate
  the effectiveness of the scheme

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Guidelines

• Mentor guidelines
• First contact with mentees
• Dos and donts
• Establishing boundaries

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Scenario 1

• Your mentee says she has an essay which has to be
  handed in this week. She knows you did the same
  module last year and that the essay titles
  havent been changed. She has emailed you her
  draft and asked lots of questions about how it
  could be improved. She asks if she could have a
  look at your essay.

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Scenario 2

• You have been paired with a first year girl who
  quickly makes if obvious she is taking the
  mentoring relationship too far. She emails you
  every day, hangs around after your lectures and
  has started appearing at your favourite bar. How
  do you relieve the dependency model?

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Scenario 3

• You have been paired with a student who seems to
  have changed his mind about being mentored. He
  never turns up for meetings you arrange and
  doesnt reply to your emails. This may not be too
  bad, but you have heard from other students that
  he isnt turning up for lectures and has missed
  two submission deadlines. What should you do?

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Scenario 4

• Your mentee comes to see you and explains he
  hasnt slept since he arrived at university. The
  night before things got out of hand .
• the noise from everyone else on my corridor
  keeps me awake all night and last night everyone
  stormed into my room and tipped my bed over,
  because I hadnt gone to the club with them.

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What next

• Well email you with the date and venue for the
  first social event
• Read the guidelines and familiarise yourself with
  the scheme
• Think about the things you would have liked to
  have known when you arrived
• Make sure you have signed the attendance sheet

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Any questions?

• If you need help and advice, contact-
• JHAS Anne Westbrooke
• JHML Milly Nettleton
• JHSC Maddy Burrows
• Email addresses
• jhas_at_leeds.ac.uk,
• jhml_at_leeds.ac.uk,
• and jhsc_at_leeds.ac.uk