For the first time since its 2012 launch, a first-year student living in any residential cluster can opt in to receive a mentor this fall through the First-Year Peer Mentoring Program. The program, which previously matched mentors to students living in the Russell Sage or River clusters, will interview prospective mentors this spring.
The interview is a new requirement, program co-director Delia O’Shea ’15 said in an email.
Prior to this year’s changes, students living in the selected clusters were matched with mentors. O’Shea said that some of these automatically enrolled students were not receptive to the program’s goals, discouraging some mentors.
By allowing students from across campus to participate in the program, O’Shea said, organizers hope that the pool of student mentees will be more enthusiastic.
“We have a really good feeling about the program’s direction and momentum for next year,” O’Shea said.
Since the program’s inaugural year, organizers have considered expanding to include all clusters, former program co-director Andrew Longhi ’14 said.
Student Assembly helped launch the program, but the role of overseeing first-year mentors and mentees has since shifted to the Dean of the College’s office.
In its first year, the program enrolled around 200 Russell Sage residents. This year, residents of Fahey and McLane Halls and the River cluster participated, program co-director Lily Michelson ’15, who helped launch the program two years ago, said in an email.
Of six students interviewed, most expressed positive responses to the program.
Justin Maffet ’16 and Jake Lyon ’17 said their perspectives of the program developed from strong relationships with mentors more than program activities.
Maffet, enrolled in the program as a Fahey resident, said he remains friends with his mentor.
“Coming in, I knew I wasn’t alone,” Maffet said. “I had someone to go to if I had any questions from social life to academics.”
Lyon, a current McLane resident, said that he would recommend the program to an incoming member of the Class of 2018.
In its pilot year, the First-Year Mentoring Program focused on academics, aiming to supplement the existing first-year advising system, O’Shea said.
Michelson said the program intended to bridge the divide between upperclassmen and underclassmen.
Over the last two years, however, the program has evolved to offer additional advising outside of academics, O’Shea said. Several mentees noted that they received advice on topics unrelated to academics like extra-curricular activites and social life.
Ben Rutan ’17, a program participant, said he felt like the program was intended to help him out only if he was struggling.
“Personally, I only met my mentor once or twice,” Rutan said. “It was mainly a check-in for me.”
Meredith Nissenbaum ’17, who is applying to be a mentor next fall, said she helped start a similar program at her high school, pairing seniors with freshman.
“I know how important it is to have a resource you can turn to,” Nissenbaum said.
Applications for mentors have been distributed to all current undergraduates over email in the last two weeks and are due Monday evening. Last year, 163 students applied for 125 mentorship positions, O’Shea said.
“We’re hoping to receive at least as many applications as last year,” O’Shea said. “We’re looking to accept as many mentors as we can in order to expand our program as we move forward, but we will be prioritizing quality over quantity.”
The online application asks students to list their extracurricular involvements and to describe the most important piece of advice that they received — or wish they had received — during their first year at the College, among other questions.
In order to serve as a program mentor, students must be on campus during the fall of 2014 and for at least one additional term during the academic year. Mentors must also commit to attending a mentor orientation held at the beginning of fall term.
John Hammel Strauss ’15 and Alexandra Johnson ’15 co-direct this year’s program with Michelson and O’Shea. An additional executive committee supports programming and communications efforts and assists with mentor-matching, Michelson said.
While a number of additional first-year advising programs are available to students, including the First Year Student Enrichment Program, the International Student Mentor Program and the Women in Science Program, Michelson said that First-Year Peer Mentoring program is unique because it is broad in scope and inclusive of all incoming students. The Undergraduate Deans Office also assigns a faculty mentor to each incoming student.
