Peer Mentor Program

The Peer Mentor program is a vibrant and vital part of the success of the incoming cohort each year. Incoming students are paired with an upperclassman who has been selected to be a Peer Mentor and we use a 1-1 pairing, although group activities are strongly encouraged within the peer groups. The Peer Mentor Program is intended to help the new incoming freshmen acclimate to the college’s academic and social life. Freshmen sometimes struggle through their first weeks or months at college as they adjust to the very different academic and social world of college. Students may feel lost on campus, the diversity of student social life may pull them in many directions, faculty may seem intimidating, and course demands may feel overwhelming. Students often feel that no one – not their advisors, their faculty, or even their parents – can offer them insights into the current realities of college life as well as other students can. Peer mentors are trusted and effective because they have been there, done that.

Peer mentor groups typically address, formally or informally, aspects of the college experience that lie outside (but often overlap) those academic areas where college faculty are most knowledgeable. Peer mentors are experienced students selected for their ability to share basic college information and their personal experiences and insights about college life. For new students, mentors function as models of student success who are willing to share the pitfalls they have encountered in college and the strategies they have developed to overcome them. The mentors’ positive attitudes, their ground-level insights into college life, and their personal experiences effectively map paths to success through the college territory for their slightly younger freshmen.

For example, mentors usually cover time-management strategies; discuss the places, times, and strategies they have found best for studying; offer insights into the ins and outs of residence hall life; and give good advice about avoiding pitfalls in their academic and social lives by sharing the shocks and confusions of their own freshman year.

"I have loved getting to see the relationships grow from this program, as well as the pride and dedication the mentors have for not only the Honors College, but the University. The friendships formed from this program stick with you throughout your college experience, and gives you someone who has been in your shoes to trust and gain advice from."  ~Ellie Lewis