Based on the concept of students helping each other, the Peer Educator program begins another year by increasing training and expanding its efforts in academic advising.
The Peer Educator program consists of two portions -- one for academic advising and one for health advising.
A common complaint among upperclass students is that the Dean of Students Office is not all that accessible to students. Now in its second year of existence, the Peer Academic Advising program is working to erase this lament from students' vocabulary.
The main goal of peer educators is to answer initial questions a student may have, easing the burden on deans and providing students with a quicker response than waiting for an appointment with a dean.
Peer Advisor Brian Greenberg '95 describes the program as "a resource to the student body for academic questions, advising on planning a major, course advice, ways to fund proposals and many other student issues."
There are seven student advisers this year, with personal academic interests ranging from a linguistics major to a pre-med student.
"We are all trained by the upperclass deans and the Academic Skills Center," explained Peer Advisor Candice Chao '95.
The advisers are available daily in the deans' office from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. daily to answer "questions dealing with particular issues right away," Chao said.
The advising program is also seen as a way to help transfer and exchange students.
"Freshmen have their [Undergraduate Advisors], and we see this as a resource for transfer/exchange students," Peer Advisor Sara Wasserbauer '95 said.
The program hopes to expand this year by increasing the number of "road shows" conducted during the term.
"We will be doing several road shows throughout the term in dorms, fraternities, sororities and for almost any group that requests a show," Greenberg said. "We have road shows in regards to everything from major advising to time management and improving reading skills."
There has been some talk this year of changing the title of Peer Adviser to Student Dean, but Senior Class Dean Lisa Thum said no conclusion has been reached yet.
"A vast majority of students don't know what we spend most of our lives doing here - and that is helping students," Thum said.
Chao said, "I've had a good relationship with the Dean's Office since my sophomore year and I would like to let other students know that it's okay to visit their deans once in a while."
The Peer Health Advising Program falls under the Peer Education Advisory Council as well. The program is "a way to link student groups" with health resources, said Liza Veto, assistant coordinator of sexual awareness and abuse programs.
The Health Resource center includes the Student Alcohol Education Network, Students Against the Abuse of Food and Exercise, Rape Education and Action, and Responsible AIDS Education at Dartmouth.
New educators within any of these groups are now required to go through the same basic training, including instruction on listening and diversity awareness skills. Although students are introduced to all four areas during the training, they must specify which subject they will pursue.
