ERIC Number: EJ881723
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1086-4822
EISSN: N/A
Peer Mentors: Helping Bridge the Advising Gap
Rosenthal, Kimmo I.; Shinebarger, Shelly H.
About Campus, v15 n1 p24-27 Mar-Apr 2010
Over the last four years at Union College, the authors and their colleagues have developed a successful peer-mentoring program called Peer Assistants for Learning (PALs). Students are faced with many stressors and need help in addressing issues that may be troubling them, many of which are not academic issues. Students may perceive that faculty advising is only concerned with course advice and registration signatures. In addition, many faculty members may be uncomfortable when the conversation leaves the academic realm. This advising gap--the gap between student needs and the type of mentoring they receive--has garnered much attention and discussion. This article discusses how staff at the Union College helped bridge the advising gap through their peer-mentoring program. They use their weekly PALs meetings and individual case reports, as well as monitoring of e-mail contacts and workshop attendance and evaluations to gauge the success of the program which in turn resulted to some significant success stories. (Contains 3 notes.)
Descriptors: Student Needs, Mentors, Faculty Advisers, Peer Relationship, College Students, College Faculty, Academic Advising, Learning Disabilities, Special Needs Students
Jossey-Bass. Available from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774. Tel: 800-825-7550; Tel: 201-748-6645; Fax: 201-748-6021; e-mail: subinfo@wiley.com; Web site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/browse/?type=JOURNAL
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A