Take The Leap Developing a Peer Advising Program

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Take The Leap!Developing a Peer Advising Program

• Cindy Fruhwirth
• Assistant Director of Advising
• University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

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The Initial Steps

• Why we developed the Peer Advising program
• The history of its development
• Where we gleaned information from existing
  programs
• The actual proposal
• The program implementation

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What Were Our Needs?

• Accessibility
• Students voiced the need for advising
  accessibility (typical advising ratios
  approximately 7001)
• Expansion of advising by using satellite
  office(s)
• Desire for better Freshman/sophomore connection
  (retention)
• More time for developmental advising

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Where will we get the money?

• Students!
• Approved differential tuition funding
• Fall 2003-2004 funded two advisors
• Received approval for Peer Program funding for
  2004-2005

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What Type of Peer Contact?

• Help in the Advising Office
• Satellite Office(s)
• Outreach Programming
• Mentor connection with a first year seminar/class

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Expectations of Peer Mentors

• Pre-advising help (includes screening appointment
  setting)
• Post advising follow-up
• Group Advising help
• Outreach Programming
• NOT replace advising

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Where did we look for ideas?

• Focus Groups
• Feedback from existing mentor programs
• Other Campuses/WACADA/NACADA
• UW LaCrosse
• UW Madison
• UW-Stevens Point
• Berkley
• Colorado School of Mines
• Stanford

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What we learned

• Mentor and tutor have bad connotation
• One-on-one contact is intimidating
• Want us to be where they are
• Times students would be most willing to
  seek/receive information
• Open to phone calls from peers
• ? Since Implementation learned difficult to
  track phone numbers

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What would students ask a peer?

• STAR (Degree audit)
• Scheduling
• Registration, Titan Web, Stops
• Where to find offices
• Off campus information
• Job opportunities

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What emerged

• Peer Advising Liaisons (PALs)
• Walk-in contact
• Provide information
• Follow up with career exploration tools or
  scheduling issues
• Referrals
• Set appointments with advisors
• Other office projects
• Give commercial type presentations
• Satellite office/Residence Hall
• Advisor Staffed 2 hours/day

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Purpose

• To provide an upper-level peer connection and
  resource for UW Oshkosh freshman/sophomore
  students. The Peer Advising Liaisons (PALs) will
  have specific knowledge of STARs, scheduling,
  Titan Web, general education requirements,
  differences in degrees, campus resources, etc.

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PALs developed Vision Statement

• To be a highly trusted, friendly, and sought
  after peer resource helping students find answers.

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and Mission Statement

• In partnership with the academic advisors, we are
  students helping our campus peers by being
  readily available to provide quality resource
  information related to curriculum, career
  planning, UW Oshkosh, and advising processes in a
  positive, encouraging environment.

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PAL Qualifications

• 45 credits earned
• 2.5 GPA and in good standing
• One year full-time at UW Oshkosh
• 8-10 hours a week
• One year commitment
• Positive attitude
• Self motivated
• Strong Communication Skills

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Hiring Process

• Application
• Two letters of Recommendation (one from UW
  Oshkosh faculty/staff)
• Group Interview
• Individual Interview
• Training

?Learned Group Interview extremely valuable!
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Training and more Training

• 2 full days before Fall semester begins
• Ongoing meetings
• Every week at first
• Every other week mid-semester
• Paid to attend, mandatory
• 700 am only time that works (bummer!)
• ? Learned Give info as needed and
• train interpersonal skills first

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PAL Expectations

• They developed the list
• Wear PAL shirts and name tags
• Open/close PAL office independently
• Rotate note-taker at meetings for minutes
• Responsible behavior or will be fired

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Unique Challenges

• Shared leadership
• No new Hires no time to train
• Two types of student workers
• PAL expectations vs. our expectations

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Accountability/Assessment

• Walk-in log sheet
• PAL evaluation for students to complete
• Key log in Residence Hall
• One-on-one with advisor from PAL committee
• Self-evaluation
• Our evaluation

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Budget for PAL Program

• 20,000 from Differential Tuition
• 18,500 Student Wages
• 1,500 Satellite Office Set-up
• Other student worker funds in UARC
• ? Learned Need more money!

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Lessons Learned

• More teambuilding
• Evaluate early and often
• Not allow one worm to rot whole apple
• Let advisors know PAL role/limits
• Need clear, WRITTEN communication

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Advertise, Advertise, Advertise

• Posters in Residence Halls
• Booth at Taste of Oshkosh
• Table tents in Union
• All campus email
• Message on Advising Center voice mail
• Go to floor meetings to introduce services
• CAs bring students to PAL office for
  presentations
• Include in all group advising powerpoints
• WISCareers and STAR presentation flyers
• College Student Inventory post-cards directed
  students to PAL Office for appointments

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We are still Leaping!

• Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing
  what next or howWe guess. We may be wrong, but
  we take leap after leap in the dark.
• Agnes de Mille US choreographer dancer (1909
  - 1993)

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If you take the Leap

• Feel free to email me at fruhwirt_at_uwosh.edu or
• call me at [phone]
• if you want further information
• or other bits of my hard earned wisdom!