Building a Peer Mentoring Program For Transfer Students From the Ground Up Presented by Mary Von Kaenel, Associate Director for Transfer Academic Programs Clemson University Charlotte Jenkins, Transfer Council Director Hannah Newton, Transfer Council Assistant Director

Today’s session  Welcome and Introductions  Overview of Campus Mentoring Programs  T2T Transfer to Tigers  New Approach: Academic Course as Framework  Timeline: Development to Present  Course Information  Undergraduate Research  Preliminary Data

Clemson University  4-Year Public Research Institution  15,000 undergraduates  70+ undergraduate majors  3,500+ graduate students  1500 new transfer students each year  3300 new freshmen each year

T2T Mentoring Program  Transfers to Tigers  Transfer Council Student Government  Broad program focused on connections to new transfers  Minimal peer interaction  Basic Training

Why A Peer Mentoring Program ?  Research suggests peer interactions important for student success  Peer mentors = popular support for new student programs  Benefits new students: more direct connections to peers  Ease transition issues

Campus Mentoring Programs  Program overlap – multiple programs on campus  Each program independent  No standard mentor training—each program responsible for their own

Ground-Up Approach  Design a new method for developing peer mentors  Undergraduate Research Component  Teach students effective peer to peer mentoring techniques  Collaborate instead of compete

Academic Framework: Creative inquiry  Creative Inquiry academic course  Already established rubrics  7 Mentoring Programs Collaborated  Two-semester sequence Undergraduate Research  Over 300 CI projects currently at Clemson

Creative Inquiry

Timeline: Development Process Fall 2011Initial Interest Meeting Spring 2012First Course Taught Fall 2012Research Course Sequence Begins Spring 2013Research Completed

Fall 2011  Dr. Speziale CI Program Director  Hosted 1 st Interest meeting ~ 12 programs interested  7 Mentor Programs collaborated  Developed curriculum and syllabus for 1 st course

Spring 2012  First Mentor Training Course taught  6 week session in the Spring semester  15 mentors for transfer students  Total class all mentors ~ 50+  Face to Face class meeting each week

Fall 2012  Students from the training course Spring 2012  Beginning research course  Mentoring activities focused on connecting to new transfers

Spring 2013  2 nd Semester research on transfer students  Academic Course will include conducting Focus Groups  Roles within Focus Groups:  Note-taker  Attendance  Room set-up  Food and incentives  Technical support and recorder  Final Project on Display at April Event for CI Projects

Course Materials  Textbook Students Helping Students A Guide for Peer Educators on College Campuses 2 nd Edition Newton & Ender

Research Materials Focus Group Kit Series 6 Books on Qualitative Research

Mentors Academic Work Peer Mentor for new Transfer Students Qualitative Research on Transfer Student Group Contact logs with data

Undergraduate Research  Academic Assignments centered around research  Completed Human Subjects Research Training Course online  Literature Review  Focus Group Questions  IRB draft  Mock Focus Group  Observations of Mentees

Student Mentors  Charlotte Jenkins  Director Transfer Council  Senior, Secondary Education Math  Hannah Newton  Assistant Director Transfer Council  Senior, Wildlife and Fisheries Biology

Preliminary Observations  Mentors in CI Course had more consistent contact with new students  Log data indicate the most popular methods of communication were:   Text  Facebook  Twitter

 Peer to Peer interactions varied due to mentor, mentee schedules  Variations also within mentors  Some more persistent  Anecdotal feedback from mentees positive  Qualitative responses to be included in final project Spring 2013

CI Course Results  All Transfer Mentors completed and passed  Developed skills in these areas:  Group interactions via course assignments  Writing: preliminary interview protocol for focus groups  Problem solving: working to make connections to new students

Next Steps  IRB submission February 2013  Student mentors conduct Focus Groups March 2013  Data analysis March 2013  Final Presentation April 2013  Mentors continuing to work with mentees  New group of students taking 1 st course February week session

Questions?