Peer Mentoring as Mid-Collegiate Student

Development Experience

University of Cincinnati

FYE & Learning Communities

Dr. Greg Metz Assistant Director

27th Annual Conference on the

First Year Experience

February 2008

San Francisco, California

A BIT ABOUT UC

Total Enrollment = Approx. 36,000

Full Time Undergrad = Approx. 21,000

Part Time Undergrad = Approx. 7,000

2007-2008 = Largest Full Time 1st Year Class

Ethnic Minority = Approx. 16%

Ohio Residents = Approx. 84%

13 Colleges offer 167 Programs of Study

Currently on Quarter System (changing 09-10)

1st to 2nd year retention 06-07 = 82% for full-time

undergraduates on Clifton Campus

07A to 08 W retention increase = UP 1.7% (vs. last year)

UC|21: Defining the New Urban

Research University

UC’s Strategic Plan for 21st Century

21 action steps aligned with 6 goals

Result of broad university-wide dialogue

Partially funds FYE & LC Program

GOAL 1: Place Students at the Center

GOAL 2: Grow Our Research Excellence

GOAL 3: Achieve Academic Excellence

GOAL 4: Forge Key Relationships and Partnerships

GOAL 5: Establish a Sense of “Place”

GOAL 6: Create Opportunity

UC Center for FYE and LC

Provides campus wide coordination and best practice

sharing as regards first year experience

Endeavors to establish FYE as a foundation for mid-

collegiate and capstone experiences

Champions approaches that link curricular, co-curricular,

and experiential learning in an integrative fashion

Reports directly to Vice Provost for Assessment and

Student Learning and receives additional guidance from the

Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning.

FT Staff = Director, Assistant Director, Program Manager,

Executive Assistant

PT Staff = 1 GA, 2 Peer Leader Captains, 59 Peer Leaders,

3 student assistants

FYE and LC (2)

Services Include

Coordinate Learning Communities

Provide professional development programs and resources

for faculty, staff, and student leaders

Host and facilitate FYE Liaison group consisting of reps

from various colleges and programs

Distribute small grants for faculty-student activities and other

pedagogical initiatives

Guide and support select student organizations including

Alpha Lambda Delta freshman honor society and Student

Government’s First-year Interns

LC’s at UC

12-20 first year students co-

enrolled in two or more

thematically linked classes

UC = 100+ LC’s Fall 2007

serving approx. 2000 FY

students

59 PEER LED LC’s serve

approx. 1200 students in 5

Colleges

21 A&S, 18 Engineering,

8 Allied Health, 7 Education, 3

CJ,1 Honors, 1 CAS

Peer Led LC’s at UC

Expansion

05-06 = 12 = 1 college = 200

06-07 = 43 = 4 colleges = 765

07-08 = 59 = 5 colleges = 1200

08-09 = 80 = 5 colleges = 1600

Peer Led LC’s at UC

How Do They Work?

LC’s are organized by majors or themes

Class sequences planned for three quarters

LC students attend linked classes as cohort

In addition, students meet twice/week in

classroom setting led by PEER LEADER

PL meeting is non-credit PF grade

Required in some college; suggested in others

Faculty involvement voluntary

Incentives for attendance

Scheduling Efficiency

Transition

Academic Utility

Social Bonding

Great Beginnings Certificate (see tri-fold brochure)

Ideal Student Level Ascending LC Goals

Source: Washington Center Evergreen, LC Research and Assessment, p. 21

Reaffirmed Values and Aspirations

Leadership Skills

Intellectual Development, Cognitive Complexity

Maturity, Confidence Motivation

Diversity & Citizenship

Learning Outcomes

Academic Achievement

Retention

Interaction

Satisfaction

Enrollment

Goals of UC Peer-Led FY LC’s

Retention (90 % Year 1 to Year 2 goal) (currently 82%)

Connections – students, professors, colleges, co-

curricular programs, services, etc.

Mentor/mentee relationships

Student development - academic, social, personal

Experiences relative to UC FYE targeted learning areas

– Intellectual and self-management skills

– University engagement

– Professional and civic responsibility

– Integrative learning

Vision Statement

Learning Communities Leadership Team

Support Peer Leaders’ capacities to develop, continuously

improve and sustain Learning Communities throughout the

first academic year

Provide Peer Leaders with resources, strategies and

activities that enable the cultivation of strong mentoring

relationships, building of tight communities, and design as

well as implementation of engaging activities

Stimulate intensive interaction between LCs AND faculty,

college personnel, student life and support offices,

appropriate community partners, and other relevant partners

Research, document and publicize a wide range of Learning

Community related phenomena and outcomes

LC PL Role – Basics of Role

Connector, Active Learning Coach, Group

Facilitator, Mentor, Activity Planner

PL required to

Attend 5 day training (prior to Fall Quarter)

Attend weekly small group PL meeting

Hold office hour

Plan activities

Mentor

Submit weekly report

Submit quarterly activities summary

Submit quarterly Tool Kit item

LC Leadership Team Weekly Routines

– Plan and Facilitate PL Meetings

– Develop Weekly Report Questions

– Read and Respond to Weekly Reports

– Visit LC’s

– Troubleshoot PL Office Hours

– Troubleshoot Issues

– Send Out Weekly PL e-mail

– Update PL Blackboard

– Meet and Debrief

– Do It Again

LC Leadership Team – Year At a Glance

Jan & Feb PL (and PLC) Recruitment –

Marketing, Advertising, Networking, etc.

Mar & Apr Application Processing, Interviewing &

Placement

May Welcome Event, HR issues

June LCLT Retreat, PLC’s do orientations (all summer)

Jul & Aug Training Preparation,

Handbook Revision, Fall Quarter Logistics

Sept Training & Fall Quarter Begins

PL Meetings, LC Visits, Feedback, etc.

Oct & Nov Distribute and analyze student reflections (W 5-8)

Evaluate PL activities, GBC Ceremony (W10)

Evaluation (W8-10)

Dec Tool Kit Update & LCLT Retreat

Recruiting PL’s

Mass mailing to

eligible students

Use existing LC’s

Outreach to Faculty

and Colleges

Outreach to key

student organizations

Student Newspaper

article

Tent cards in Student

Center

On-line application – references and

resume required

Interviews by staff/student teams

Selection based on

Communication attributes

Leadership attributes

Academic accomplishment

Fit with LC theme

Capacity to commit given other roles

Selecting PL’s

Training Peer Leaders

Overview At A Glance

* Week in the Life of a PL

*The First Day of the LC

* Tales from Trenches (from previous PL’s)

* Phases of Mentoring

* Phases of Groups

* Being a Learning Coach

* Connecting to Faculty

* Networking with Colleges

* Implementing Great Beginnings Certificate

* Collaborative Planning

Evaluating LC’s

Formal Quantitative and Qualitative

Quarterly LC Student Surveys

Quarterly PL Surveys

(TO DO) Analysis of enrollment & participation effects

Less Formal Qualitative and Impressionistic

PL Weekly Reports

PL Weekly Meetings

LC Visits

PL Office Hours

Communication from Stakeholders

Learning Community Reenrollment

07-08 vs. 06-07

A07-W08 A06-W07

Overall Reenrollment 82.9% +15.7%

CECH 85.2% +20.1%

CAHS 74.5% +11.3%

COE 73.6% +15.0%

A&S 66.1% +1.9%

Attendance Patterns

FALL QUARTER 2007 All communities: 77%

– Engineering (18 communities): 83%

– Allied Health (8 communities): 78%

– CECH (10 communities): 73%

– A&S (21 communities): 71%

WINTER QUARTER 2008 FIRST 5 Weeks All communities: 68%

– Engineering with PL (11): 71%

– Allied Health (8 communities): 70%

– CECH (10 communities): 66%

– A&S (21 communities): 67%

– Engineering w/o PL (7): 36%

A07 PL Survey Feedback

Celebrations

PL Self-Reported Perceptions

44 Surveys Completed (about 75%)

I effectively established LC purpose 90.9%

I effectively built groups 85.7%

I effectively linked students to resources 84.1%

I effectively modeled strong 81.8%

learning habits

A07 PL Survey

Challenges for PL’s

PL Self-Reported Perceptions

44 Surveys Completed (about 75%)

I effectively established study groups 54.6%

I effectively facilitated student reflection 50.0%

on academics

I effectively communicated with professors 43.2%

I effectively discussed challenging issues 43.1%

A07 Qualitative PL Feedback

What have been your key accomplishments thus far as a PL and

what did you do to achieve them?

* I'm really happy with how my students have bought in not only to the LC

but also to the university at large. One of my main goals has always been

to make UC a smaller place.

* I have built pretty good relationships between myself and the students, as

well as between the students themselves. For this, I basically planned

activities that made students comfortable.

* I am happy that I have 13 students coming back out of the 18. I did this by

really caring about their progress and helping them have the most

successful first quarter of college that they could.

* My re-enrollment percent was a huge accomplishment. I focused a lot on

LC buy-in, and did my best to make the LC as helpful and fun as possible

* I think my best thing was getting the students to buy into the GBC

program. I told them how nice it would be to have and how it would benefit

them to have it. My LC had the highest (number of) GBC student

recipients.

A07 Qualitative PL Feedback

What do you still need to work on?

* I want to have the students feel like studying is more critical to

their success. I have study days for them when they’re supposed

to bring in materials to study for a specific class, but they usually

forget or do not get into it like I would want. Therefore I am going to

try new approaches to their study sessions.

* Promoting GBC and talking to them about difficult issues.

* I still need to work on communicating with professors and talking

about challenging issues with the students.

* Planning things earlier to allow more time for preparation. I also

am going to try to add myself to the students' class' blackboard so I

always know what they should be focusing on.

* I believe that I still need to work on planning more activities that

relate to Great Beginnings and that the students in my LC find

interesting and relevant.

Student Feedback LC’s and PL’s

822 Responses to Survey

47.2% Response Rate

My PL is approachable 93.7%

My PL cares about students 91.6%

My PL goes above and beyond 78.8%

Student Feedback LC’s and PL’s (2)

My PL is aware of course 88.6%

requirements

My PL has planned useful 80.0%

activities

My PL has planned 79.2%

academically helpful activities

Big Picture Challenges

Systematically involving and engaging faculty

Achieving higher order learning and

development goals for students in LC’s

Identifying and developing extraordinary peer

leaders

Further incentivizing Peer-led LC’s

Sustaining student involvement and

engagement in LC’s across the first year

Adapting to or transforming the overextended

student

Questions, Reflections,

Thoughts, Comments?