College of Humanities Peer Mentoring Project

About the College of Humanities Peer Mentoring Project

Two peer mentorsThis project began in Fall Semester 2006 with the goal of increasing retention rates for freshmen students to at least 90 percent in targeted University Writing classes through the placement of peer mentors in these classes each semester. Peer mentors are upper-division students who attend all class sessions with freshmen students and help them by emphasizing attendance, time management, and use of campus resources. Peer mentors are not teaching assistants, SI leaders, or tutors.  In the words of one freshman: “Peer mentors help students, while teaching assistants help professors.”

This project is modeled on the highly successful EOP Bridge Transitional Program for “special-admit” freshmen who come from low-income families and are the first in their families to attend college. Typically regarded by others in the university as “high risk for failure,” EOP Bridge students in recent years have attained retention rates higher than regularly admitted freshmen in their first year of college. One of the key factors for the high success rate of Bridge freshmen is EOP’s use of peer mentors in classrooms and its emphasis on mentoring as the foundation for the overall Bridge Program. According to EOP Director José Luis Vargas, the single most important factor for success for a CSUN student is their ability to find mentors on campus.

Drawing from the EOP Bridge Program, the College of Humanities project trains peer mentors in a mentoring approach different from mainstream projects found at other universities. Mainstream projects involve formal mentoring programs focusing on one-to-one matching over a long period of time. These mainstream projects are usually expensive and difficult to maintain. Following the leadership of the EOP Bridge Program, the College of Humanities project emphasizes a different approach to mentoring. Peer mentors are trained in the art of “mentoring on the run” — the practice of using each interaction with a student, no matter how brief, as a mentoring opportunity.  Rather than conceptualizing mentoring as a one-to-one activity, peer mentors are trained to understand their work as part of a “community of mentors,” which enables them to function within a network of support services and resources.  Finally, mentors are trained to promote a “culture of mentoring” in their classrooms.