Benefits and Requirements

Benefits:

At the end of the semester, mentors who have successfully completed all elements of the program will receive a $250 scholarship. In addition to the scholarship, mentors will also benefit from the opportunities to:

• Perform service to the university, its community, and fellow students.
• Gain leadership, community engagement, and mentoring skills.
• Serve in a positive leadership role at the university.
• Build positive relationships with the dedicated faculty, staff, and students in the FASTrack program.

Peer Mentor Mark Crawford hanging out with some of his FASTrack mentees at this year’s Halloween Party

Requirements:

Eligibility

To become a peer mentor, you must be at least a sophomore by the fall of 2014 and in good academic standing. The program also seeks individuals who:

• Maintain a great enthusiasm and love for the university, its goals and its ideals.
• Possess knowledge of the academic and campus resources and are involved around campus.
• Have a sincere sensitivity and respect for diverse student populations.
• Are responsible, dependable and flexible.
• Can communicate well with all types of people.
• Want to work with freshmen students in both academic and extracurricular capacities.
• Can commit to a full semester of service

EDHE 105

Mentors must be available to attend their assigned Tuesday/Thursday section of EDHE 105 at least once a week. We encourage our peer mentors to attend every session (both Tuesday and Thursday) as that gives them more time to develop meaningful relationships with their mentees; however, it is only required to attend once a week.

Mentors will also be constantly working with their EDHE 105 instructors. As co-instructors, many mentors will have the opportunity to present on various topics covered by the first year experience course, lead class discussions and plan other activities for their class. To build a successful working relationship, we ask that FASTrack Peer Mentors meet at least once a month with their instructor outside of class.

Training Sessions

In order to prepare for their service, mentors are required to attend training sessions. In these training sessions, FASTrack Peer Mentors gain a number of valuable leadership skills as they:

• Learn to communicate and apply concepts of civic engagement, community building, and role modeling in an academic environment.
• Obtain a more complex understanding of multicultural diversity.
• Learn to identify and apply helping strategies appropriate to an academic environment.
• Acquire a greater knowledge of student support services on campus.
• Strengthen their ability to empower others.
• Practice skills necessary to effectively lead academic discussions and to describe, analyze, and evaluate service experiences.

These training sessions are mandatory to attend in order to receive the scholarship at the end of the semester.

Peer Mentoring Logs

Every month mentors are asked to provide logs that document communication with their mentees and their participation in their EDHE 105 section.  These logs help us keep track and share best practices both in the classroom and outside. We ask that our peer mentors reach out to each one of their students in the best way they see fit. As every mentor and mentee are different, sharing experiences help give our peer mentors more ideas on how to approach their mentees and develop that relationship that has proven to be so beneficial.

Social Event Committees

Throughout the year FASTrack hosts various social activities for our first year students. FASTrack peer mentors help plan these events by participating on at least one of the event committees. While it is not required for the mentors to attend each event, participation is encouraged as the events are a lot of fun and a great way to build the FASTrack community.