Mentoring Mentors:

Supporting Peer
Mentors Outside of
the Classroom
Shelley Mass Program Advisor
Annie Ziga Graduate Assistant
Kelly Smith Director

First- and Second-Year Experience

Northern Illinois University

36th Annual FYE Conference, February 2017

2016 Northern Illinois University

Kahoot! - (In browser: Kahoot.it)
4-year public research university 11 week course & a one-credit elective

Just under 20,000 students Not required (except for CHANCE)

Six Colleges Taught by various faculty and staff

Similar number of first-year transfer and first-

year freshmen Peer Educator in each section

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 Peer Educators Upper division undergraduates who mentor
first-year students in UNIV101/201 classrooms.
Who are our PEs?
Fall 2015 Fall 2016
Total: 66 Total: 58
Returner: 14 Sophomore: 18 Returner: 17 Sophomore: 15
New: 52 Junior: 25 New: 41 Junior: 27
PECs: 12 Senior: 23 PECs: 8 Senior: 16

Requirements:
GPA 2.5 or higher (cumulative)
Took UNIV 101/201 (preferred)
Have 3-4 hours per week to commit to position
Be able to serve as a positive role model to students
Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively
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Why do mentors need support?
Helping students become more self-authored
Learning Partnership Model (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010, p. 187).
Validating learners capacity to know
Situating learning in learners' experience and
Mutually constructing meaning

Plus-one Staging for Cognitive Growth

The use of plus-one staging can serve as a means of providing a developmental mismatch and
facilitating further cognitive growth (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton & Renn, 2010, p. 93).
Peer-advising, peer-mentoring, group work
Challenge and Support

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Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student development in
college: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Peer Educators We made some changes to offer more support
and to increase student participation.

THEN NOW
Volunteer position Paid position

Educator can choose to One PE assigned to each

have a PE in classroom. UNIV section.

Individual Interviews Group Interviews

Two large training Weekly meetings/trainings

sessions (April & Aug) in addition to two sessions.
One-level leadership New leadership positions
 Peer Educator

Peer Educator Coach

Educators
FSYE

Professional Development
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 FSYE Staff
x8
Peer Educator
Coach

Peer Peer Peer Peer Peer Peer Peer

Educator Educator Educator Educator Educator Educator Educator

17-25 UNIV 17-25 UNIV 17-25 UNIV 17-25 UNIV 17-25 UNIV 17-25 UNIV 17-25 UNIV
Students Students Students Students Students Students Students
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 FSYE
Newsletters

E-mails

FSYE Library

Textbook
Blackboard
Community
Trainings

10 FSYE Staff
 Educators
Classroom
support

E-mails

Mentor
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 Peer Educator Coaches

Peer Mentor

GroupMe

Weekly
12
Meetings
 Peer Educator Coach
Educators
FSYE

Professional
-Journals Classroom
development
-Surveys Experience
activities

Professional Development
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Evaluation Assessment
Exhibiting intercultural competencies with people of diverse backgrounds
and perspectives.
93% of students who took the evaluation saw personal growth in this area.
As usual, we meet as a group to talk about our high's and low's as peer educators, but this week we
took on a new perspective. We decided to have more of an open discussion and found ways that we can
address the issues that we were having (in class). It was great hearing how we can address issues from
different perspectives. Looking forward to next week.
Peer Educator Coach

I used my coachs previous approaches where they created ice breakers to engage students in a way
that makes them comfortable. I was able to utilize this style to increase the communication of the
students through peer dialogue about the topic of identity and what it means to them.
Peer Educator

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Evaluation Assessment
Synthesizing learned knowledge and skills and applying them creatively to
develop cross disciplinary and innovative solutions to problems.

93% of students who took the evaluation saw personal growth in this area.
This week we practiced elevator speeches in our meeting, this really helped me recognize that I need to learn how
to organize my thoughts and ideas for when speaking to future employers. Peer Educator

When I applied to be a Peer Educator, I never imagined it would change my life as much as it has. I figured it
would be a cool learning opportunity, but I never expected it would advance my skills as much as it has, change
my entire outlook on particular topics, and give me unforgettable experiences. Peer Educator

I gained an unthinkable amount of knowledge and skill, and I surpassed all expectations for myself. As a whole,
applying to be a Peer Educator is one of the best decisions I've made in my life thus far. Peer Educator

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Evaluation Assessment
Communicating clearly and effectively.
93% of students who took the evaluation saw personal growth in this area.
I have learned to be a better public speaker, I made connections with different resources around the
university, and now I understand the needs of first-year student better as a result of my position this
fall. Peer Educator
The surveys neither helped or hurt me. They were primarily a good tool to make sure that I was doing
everything I needed to be doing for the week. As far as the journals, I love the idea of a journal because
it allows you to physically write down your struggles and accomplishments over the semester in a
more concrete way. Peer Educator
I think the journals made me think more deeply about my role as a peer educator and put what I was
doing into perspective. - Peer Educator

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Evaluation Assessment
Collaborating with other to achieve specific goals.
93% of students who took the evaluation saw personal growth in this area.
I was offered some tips on how to facilitate and teach an entire classroom, which is something I've
never done before. Peer Educator
Another skill I have picked up over the course of the semester is editing my resume. During one of
our weekly meetings, we brought in our resumes and went over things that we could do to improve
them. This was a big help because not much later I was using my new and improved resume at the
Internship Fair, so that was big asset that I got from this experience. I really enjoyed being a Peer
Educator this semester, and if (when) I do it again, I hope that it is just as great if not better than this
time. Peer Educator
My coach reassured me of any doubts I was having about my Educator. Peer Educator

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How can you include more support?
Future Goals
More training for PECs and Educators
Collaborate with Career Services for activities
Continue with weekly meeting style
Improve participation in evaluations
Build the team aspect between PEs

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Questions?
Shelley Mass
mmass1@niu.edu

Kelly Smith
kellysmith@niu.edu

Annie Ziga
aziga1@niu.edu

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