ARC/EOP Peer Advisor Mentors

Peer advisor mentors are Junior & Senior students hired specifically to counsel, advise and mentor students on their course selection, degree options, etc. Peer advisor mentors are students who have received high grades in their course work at the university.

A Peer Advisor Mentor is…

Supervised & trained by a professional PAM corrdinator
A fellow CSUN student who is approachable and has the ability to communicate with others;

Someone who helps another plan a course schedule which works with the student's other commitments, such as a job, family responsibilities, etc;

Someone who has experience in finding and choosing coursework that will help students work toward their goals and is willing to share their knowledge with them;

Someone who has the knowledge to answer student’s questions accurately and in an approachable and friendly manner;

Someone who understands a student's concerns because they have dealt with similar circumstances; and

Someone who assists the professional advisor, or advising program administrator with advising-related activities.

Your Responsibilities as a Student

During the Explore Workshops all Undecided incoming First Year students must meet with a peer advisor mentor before registering.

Students must recognize that advising is a shared responsibility but also realize that they are ultimately responsible for making decisions regarding academic, career and personal goals. First Year students:

Are responsible for preparing for and keeping appointments with their peer advisor mentors.
See their peer advisor mentor at least twice a month.
Develop plans for achieving academic, career and personal goals that lead toward declaring a major.
Maintain updated check sheets and develop plans for taking courses required for the CSUN GE plan & major.
Are familiar with institutional policies and procedures outlined in the California State University, Northridge catalog.
Utilize the full range of campus resources.
Be knowledgeable about and comply with CSUN policies and regulations.
Be familiar with CSUN GE, Title V, and graduation requirements.
Seek assistance from a peer advisor mentor when necessary.
Begin exploring options for deciding on a major.

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The ARC/EOP Peer Advisor Mentor's principal responsibilities:

1. Provide ongoing contact with Students

Provide academic assistance to all Undecided students.
Acquaint new students with CSUN policies, procedures, requirements, and registration information.
Provide specialized advising (e.g., meetings for students on probation) for students who are having academic difficulties.
Direct those students in need of tutorial services, personal counseling, or academic services to appropriate campus and/or community resources.
Advise students who are considering withdrawing from the University about correct withdrawal procedures and how and when to apply for readmission.
Assist with career development.
Maintain routine correspondence as needed with current, past, and prospective students.

2. Serve as a liaison with Colleges and University Officials

Serve as liaison between ARC/EOP, departmental representatives and University Officials to clarify issues concerning University and/or College requirements.

ARC/EOP Mentoring Philosophy

The Power of Peer Mentoring

by Glenn Omatsu

Some of the best mentors of students in our universities are other students. I repeat this statement: Some of the best mentors of students in our universities are other students.

But how can this be? After all, in universities aren’t mentors supposed to be older adult professionals, such as faculty and counselors? How can a student serve as an effective mentor for another student?

Consider this: For a new student, a university can be an exciting but also intimidating place. A university can also be a lonely place for a new student, especially if that student is the first in their family to go to college, the child of immigrant parents, or a member of a minority community. Even simple things that experienced students take for granted can be challenging for a new student, such as finding classrooms and offices on campus, understanding school policies for registration for classes, and learning the special language of the university such as “syllabus,” “office hours,” “annotations,” and “prerequisites.” A small number of new students learn the answers by directly asking professors in their classes or talking to university professional staff. But many, many students find out information by asking friends, especially more experienced students. In fact, most new students find their way to the offices of university staff and professors by first talking to more experienced students. In other words, the experienced students serve as guide for new students to help them access the storehouse of knowledge and resources at the university. Moreover, new students will continue to seek the advice of experienced students regarding decisions about classes, majors, academic difficulties, and personal problems.

A mentor is defined as a knowledgeable and experienced guide, a trusted ally and advocate, and a caring role model. An effective mentor is respectful, reliable, patient, trustworthy, and a very good listener and communicator. In a university, mentors can be found among faculty and professional staff. But mentors can also be found in the ranks of students themselves. Student mentors are known as Peer Mentors. Due to their close association with other students, Peer Mentors are very important. Often new students confronted with an academic or personal problem will seek out advice first from a Peer Mentor and only with encouragement will that student contact others in the university, such as counselors, faculty, or administrators.

Based on an informational survey at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), EOP Director Jose Luis Vargas found that the single most important factor associated with high retention and graduation rates for low-income, first-generation college students was their ability to find a mentor at CSUN. Finding a mentor not only helped students to succeed academically but also with career planning and the development of life management skills such as dealing with personal and family problems.

But finding a mentor at a big university is not easy, especially for a student who is a first-generation college student. Thus, at universities that have made a commitment to helping students, programs have been set up for peer advising and tutoring to promote opportunities for experienced students to serve as mentors for new students. However, in these programs all experienced students are not Peer Mentors. Some simply see advising and tutoring as a job and interact with students coming to see them like junior bureaucrats. Peer Mentors are those who understand their interactions with students as not simply a job but as opportunity to help others discover the potential within themselves to succeed in the university and in life. Peer Mentors help to nurture this potential in other students. In other words, what distinguishes Peer Mentors from other students who do advising and tutoring is not the amount of work they do but the quality and kind of work they do. To become a Peer Mentor, an experienced student does not have to do extra work but to think about their interactions with fellow students in a new way. Peer Mentors bring to their work as advisors and tutors the consciousness of the importance of mentoring.

A Mentor is…

A fellow CSUN student who is approachable and has the ability to communicate with others;

Someone who helps another plan a course schedule which works with the student's other commitments, such as a job, family responsibilities, etc;

Someone who has experience in finding and choosing coursework that will help students work toward their goals and is willing to share their knowledge with them.

Someone who has the knowledge to answer students questions accurately and in an approachable and friendly manner;

Someone who understands a student's concerns because they have dealt with similar circumstances; and

Someone who assists the professional advisor, or advising program administrator with advising-related activities.

A trusted ally, or advocate, who works with the student and on behalf of the mentee’s best interests and goals.

A Mentor is not…

A professional counselor or therapist.

Someone who is flawless.

A romantic partner.

A social worker.

As a Mentor, your principal responsibilities are:

Establish a positive, personal relationship with your advisee/mentee(s).
- Trust and respect must be established.
- Regular interaction and consistent support are important in many mentoring relationships.
Help your advisee/mentee(s) to develop academic and life skills.
- Work to accomplish specific goals (e.g., the best use of free time).
- When and where appropriate, emphasize life-management skills, such as decision-making, goal setting, time management, dealing with conflict, values clarification, and skills for coping with stress and fear.
Assist advisee/mentee(s) in accessing academic and university resources.

Provide information and help your advisee/mentee to find information on academic resources.

Enhance your mentee’s ability to interact comfortably and productively with people/groups from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Your own willingness to interact with individuals and groups different from yourself will make a powerful statement about the value placed on diversity. Model the attitudes and behaviors that you emphasize.
- It is important to acknowledge and understand, not ignore, our differences. We need to learn how to use our differences as resources for growth. Respecting our differences is necessary but not sufficient; we need to know how to negotiate our differences in ways that produce new understanding and insights.
- Everyone holds particular preconceptions and stereotypes about one’s own group and other groups. Take special care that you are not intentionally or unintentially promoting your own views and values at the expense of your advisee/mentee’s viewpoints. Work at understanding and critically examining your own perspectives on race, ethnicity, culture, class, religion, sexual orientation, etc.