Peer mentors as a transition strategy at University: Why mentoring needs to have boundaries

Abstract

Peer mentoring is often considered the single most effective strategy for increasing student retention and student satisfaction. As a consequence, mentoring programs have been implemented at most universities and are an essential feature of best practice transition programs. Yet, the literature is inconsistent regarding what the term entails and how it is applied, leading to diverse opinions about what constitutes a mentoring program. It could be argued that agreement on a definition of mentoring is secondary to the benefits of its practice and that an emphasis on terminology is just playing semantics. However, this article argues that terminology does matter and that elucidating what mentoring entails is crucial to the comparative evaluation and improvement of mentoring practice as well as the identification of best practice. The article goes on to suggest how mentoring boundaries might be set by drawing on experiences from an Australian University.

Community, Theory, and Guidance: Benefits and Lessons Learned in Evaluation Peer Mentoring

“…Opportunities for training in evaluation include university degree programs, cer tificate programs, and professional development workshops. Contrary to previous findings (Engle, Altschuld, & Kim, 2006), LaVelle and Donaldson (2010 ) provided evidence to suggest that there was an increase in the number of evaluation train ing programs within university settings in the twenty-first century (confi rmed by LaVelle, 2014). Of the 61 university-based training programs offered in the United States at the time of study and 20 other programs in Canada, Australia, and Europe, the majority are housed within education, educational psychology, political science, or psychology departments (LaVelle, 2014).…”

Mentoring Hispanic Students: A Literature Review

“…Egege and Kutieleh (2015) argued that mentoring, or specifically peer mentoring, plays a particular role in a college transition. However, not every peer intervention strategy will constitute mentoring, just as not any peer is a mentor (Egege & Kutieleh, 2015). A common operational difference between academic-focused peer mentoring programs and others is the embedding of the tutor/ mentor into the subject topic tutorials where they work with a group of students on set subject matter; mentors chose mentees or were approached to act as a mentor based on their personal characteristics or knowledge, usually with no mentoring training.…”

“…The commitment and engagement of mentoring partners are key to establishing, maintaining, and experiencing successful mentoring relationships (Zachary, 2012). Egege and Kutieleh (2015) Johnson et al (2014) explained that young students were exposed to motivated and academically successful students in a structured setting, and thus benefit from observational learning and imitation of these peer role models.…”

The Assessment and Mentoring Program (AMP): Final Year Pre-Service Physical Education Peer Mentors Perceptions of Effective Mentoring

“…Diverse student populations in universities have prompted the development of mentoring programs aimed at supporting first year students to successfully perform academically and to reduce attrition rates (Heirdsfield, Walker, Walsh, & Wilss, 2008). Many universities are attempting to foster a sense of engagement through such programs (Egege & Kutieleh, 2015). This support is usually received only during this first year transition period and students may be provided with any number of different mentoring approaches including: discipline specific programs, peer mentoring and tutoring or online support and academic support programs (Ashwin, 2002;Heirdsfield et al, 2008;Krause, Hartley, James, & McInnis, 2005;O'Regan, Geddes, Howe-Piening, & Quirke, 2004;Rittschof & Griffin, 2001).…”

“…The continually contested operational definition of 'mentoring', the assumed rather than demonstrated success of mentoring, the lack of rigor in this research area and broad contexts that mentoring occur in (Crisp & Cruz, 2009;Egege & Kutieleh, 2015;Jacobi, 1991) make it difficult to decipher and compare findings. Despite this, some reported outcomes of mentoring in undergraduate programs have included for the mentor or mentee: increased satisfaction, fulfillment, productivity, work-related benefits, recognition from others, respect, emotional support, behavior and classroom management skills, interpersonal skills, critical reflection and leadership capacity (Crisp & Cruz, 2009;Eby, Durley, Evans, & Ragins, 2006;Ehrich, Hansford, & Tennent, 2004;Hobson, Ashby, Malderez, & Tomlinson, 2009).…”