1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Creative Inquiry

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

11. 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

12. 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

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

14. 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

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

16. Research Materials Focus Group Kit Series 6 Books on Qualitative Research

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

18. 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

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

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

21.  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

22. 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

23. 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 2013 8 week session

24. Questions?