Undergraduate Peer Mentor Intern Together, We are Stronger: The Innovative Development of a Peer Mentor Training Beth Roland, M.A., C.A.G.S., Assistant Director/Learning Specialist Amanda Brown, MHS, LMHC, Associate Director Problem & Background Students with disabilities have lower college completion rates than their peers. Only 34% complete four-year degrees within eight years, compared to 51.2 percent of the general population. The first year student experience is important. When students make connections and utilize resources on campuses, their persistence rate is higher. Peer mentor programs support new students by connecting them with upper class students who utilize the DRC. They help new students develop self-advocacy skills and connect with campus resources. UF’s DRC did not offer a formal peer mentor training for their Peer Mentor program until last year. Students with Disabilities have a lower college completion rate than their peers They can be supported by: Connections Resources Peer Mentors Solution – Use of an undergraduate peer This undergraduate developed the mentor training program She used her knowledge from previous mentoring experiences She received internship credit for her work, and developed leadership skills Her efforts allowed learning specialists to spend less time overall developing and leading the training Undergraduate Peer Mentor Intern Solution - Details Our learning specialists developed the Part 1 of the training The undergraduate intern developed Part 2 of the training: “Understanding the Mentor Role”, and led this portion of the training The training lasted 4 hours total The undergraduate spent a total of 150 hours developing training materials over the summer semester She first researched other peer mentor programs at UF and at other DRC’s She then planned the training and incorporated interactive activities and role-playing scenarios for mentors to re-enact Leadership skills Previous knowledge Training Time & Resources Provides: Internship credit Teaching Training Positive Experience Receives: Outcomes 9 mentors took the training All who took pre- and post-feedback survey increased their knowledge about services offered by the DRC, and increased their confidence in understanding their role as a mentor Challenges included scheduling a 2-day training among busy schedules; two mentors had to miss one day each of the training. Due to positive feedback, we are offering the trainings online this year as well as increasing our social media support for mentors via a Facebook group.