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TRANSCRIPT
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?