Peer-Mentoring Program
Peer-mentoring and advising is an integral part of the University Honors Program (UHP) at KU. It allows Honors students to pass on tips and enthusiasm for the Honors Program and for freshmen to experience a smoother transition to college life, KU and Lawrence. More importantly, Peer-Mentors contribute to a cohesive Honors' identity and culture.
Being a Peer-Mentor is a great opportunity to serve the Honors Program community, one that fosters students' skills in the area of leadership, communication, and problem solving. During a student's tenure as a Peer-Mentor, one is offered the opportunity to attend workshops to enhance leadership and communication skills, as well as to increase awareness of others’ sensitivities.
An important aspect of the Peer-Mentor’s role is to become a peer-adviser. At the UHP, upper classmen (students having spent at least one year in the program) get involved in the program's activities in a variety of ways: for example, Peer-Mentors make themselves available via email over the summer and help out with First Year Students’ arrival and settling in in August. They also make themselves available for more focused peer-advising during the semester, especially during the Schedule Release Party. At all of these events, Peer-Mentors share their experience with first year students either in groups or in one on one conversations. In all cases, peer mentors are paired with freshmen who share common interests either academically or in the area of leadership and service.
Incoming students are welcome to contact a Peer-Mentor of their choice based on interests so as to ask more specific questions about majors, research, internships, etc. A list of current Peer-Mentors with a short bio and their contact information is available on the University Honors Program's website. Such contact may happen as early as the summer, prior to the new students' arrival at KU, and at the latest during Hawk Week.
As a Peer-Mentor, the student is in the preferred pool of applicants for the competitive Honors Freshman Seminar Assistant positions assigned to the Honors Freshman Seminar.
Attend two meetings with the program coordinator in the Fall and one in the Spring.
- Partake in the development and conduct of the UHP events tied to the first year Honors students’ advising.
- Attend the UHP sponsored events and promote the attendance thereof.
- Be ready to share information about classes, majors and opportunities related to your area of study.
- Guide freshman in identifying adequate campus resources.
- Listen: incoming students may share concerns and questions that will be familiar to you and that you are therefore ideally positioned to alleviate.
- Peer-Mentors will invest up to 5 hours a month in the program during the fall or spring semester. This does not include time spent with peer advisees, which is at the peer mentors' discretion.
The University Honors Program is currently recruiting Honors Peer-Mentors!
Now accepting applications for the 2016-2017 academic year. Application review begins December 5.
