Virtual Peer Mentoring 2020: Now Recruiting Mentors
IT Sligo is now recruiting Virtual Peer Mentors for 2020. We want to make sure that our new first years in 2020 don’t miss out on the valuable support of their peers, and so our Peer2Peer Mentoring Programme will be run virtually from Semester One.
First years will be placed into small groups and assigned a student mentor from their department. The groups will meet for five online sessions over Semester 1 and Semester 2.
The role of the peer mentor is to guide first years through what to expect in their first year, answer questions about practical matters, and direct students to where they can go if they need extra help with their studies. Each virtual peer mentoring session will be built around a theme, and the topics will complement the 2020 IT Sligo Induction programme. After each online catch-up, mentors will complete a quick survey about how they and their groups are getting on.
Why volunteer as a peer mentor?
Our peer mentors are wonderful – usually their primary reason for getting involved is simply to help other students through what can be a challenging time.
Apart from a sense of personal satisfaction gained from helping new students, IT Sligo peer mentors get:
- A Certificate at the completion of the programme.
- Complimentary headshot photo that you can use for your LinkedIn profile page.
- In depth knowledge of college supports & services
- Comprehensive training in communication skills and key ways in which to develop a good mentoring relationship.
- The opportunity to practice skills that are in demand from employers (leadership attributes; initiative and organisational skills and communication skills).
- A more a rounded college experience.
- The chance to meet other peer mentors and broaden networks and horizons.
Feedback from past mentors:
- “I really enjoyed this experience and look forward to doing it again next year”
- “The experience has been very rewarding, really fun and engaging”
- “Through the mentor training I learnt really beneficial communication skills”
- “It was fun. I got to meet new people, push myself out of my comfort zone and develop my
- communication skills”
- “I have so much more confidence”
- “I learned a lot from it and it was a great experience”
- “I really recommend this to other students”
Sign up online at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Peer2PeerITSligo
Peer mentor training will be facilitated through a set of short online modules, which you can complete in your own time. This will be followed by an online group session before the programme begins.
We’d love to have you involved.