MUSE - Faculty Resources: Benefits of First Year Experience Programs
Best Practices for Working with Peer Mentors
Jill Steinberg, Director
Peer Mentor Program
(408) 924-5616
jillas@email.sjsu.edu
For seminars with an assigned Peer Mentor
- Include the name and email address of your Peer Mentor on the
syllabus.
- Include the address and hours for the Peer Mentor Center on the
syllabus.
Royce Hall Lounge, (408) 924-2198, Mon -Thur 10am-3:45pm, Tues eve
6-8pm
- Hand out Peer Mentor flyers - e.g., What We Can Do For You
- Meet with your PM before the semester begins to discuss ideas
about how to best include the PM in the MUSE seminar.
- Meet with your PM throughout semester to discuss how it's going
with MUSE students, with you and the PM, for the PM? Discuss issues
identified by students, PM, and you.
- Consider giving PM time (e.g., 15 minutes) with the class - sometimes
with you there and sometimes alone - to talk to students about Hows
it going adjusting to SJSU, with friends, with family, with assignments,
with doing work for this seminar?
- Consider giving PM time to present in class on a related topic
and/or a topic related to making it in college such as study skills,
or picking classes.
- Consider providing student e-mails to the PM (so the PM can email
students).
Expectations for Peer Mentors
- PMs are expected to attend every class.
- PMs may meet with students inside or outside of class for study
sessions.
- PMs can help faculty with field trips (but are not required).
- PMs may ask questions in class that other students might be afraid
to ask - to stimulate discussion, model being a good student/scholar,
or model not knowing something and being able to ask a question
in class
- PMs are not permitted to grade papers or assign grades in any
case.
For Seminars/Classes without an assigned Peer Mentor
Call Jill Steinberg (408-924-5616) to schedule PMs to come to your
class. Peer Mentors can give the presentations for students - e.g.,
10 Hot Spots around SJSU and Surviving the Residence Halls, or
presentations about the Peer Mentor Center, choosing a major, study
skills, stress management, health and well being, dating, and diversity.
Encourage students to work with the Peer Mentors and to use to the
Peer Mentor Center
- show the Peer Mentor 7 minute video The Peer Mentor Project
to your class early in the semeste
- take your class to the PMC at least once during the semester
- PMs can facilitate the class and introduce themselves, tell the
students about the PMC, services we offer, etc and/or you can just
hold your class there - PMC classes need to be scheduled in advance
with Jill Steinberg
- assign a MUSE event that requires your students to go to the PMC
- e.g., to meet a PM, interview a PM, just hang out or get help
- encourage individual students to meet with PM - both students
needing extra attention/help - and - students doing well
- hand out Saralyns testimonial - and - schedule her, your PM or
another PM to go over it with your class
Pitfalls a.k.a. NOT Best Practices
- PM comes and just sits in the class and is given no time with
students, no time to interact in class.
- If PM meets with the Professor, the professor doesnt ask for
feedback or responds in a way that the PM would be reticent or even
afraid to give any more feedback.
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