Hi Melissa,

I wonder if the perspective on using student support is a regional one?
When I was a student in South Africa, I earned a good deal of money as a
student tutor - in a scheme that was widely used in the university.  I
have read quite a lot of research from the States in which they refer to
the use of undergraduate and postgraduate tutors, and yet when I have
suggested the idea at the university I now work at in the UK, they are
positively horrified by the idea.

I think that there are a whole lot of benefits, not least of which is that
of cost to the university.

Ruth

> Hello Hugh,
>
> Thank you for the descriptive email.  I am interested in extending our
> mentioning program further than supporting first year students under the
> umbrella of "sense of belonging".  Mentors need to cross into
> course/learning support although I believe that this may be an
> interesting challenge to consider as their is a reluctance to allow
> students to be engaged in supporting students academically at our
> university - regardless that student do it informally and in group work
> situations.  I would be interested to see how you have been able to
> formulate support for PAL - its an obvious progress for us - my next
> challenge!
>
> I will contact Sandie and if I can, will be grateful for a meet and
> great at your campus.
>
> Regards,
>
> Melissa Staley
> Student Learning Support Co-ordinator
> Student Services
> University of Ballarat
> Phone: 03 5327 9378
>
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 03/11/05 10:50 pm >>>
> Hello Melissa
>
> As you will have seen from my colleague Alison Green's response, at
> Bournemouth University our Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme forms
> part of the range of activities covered by Learning Support.  Learning
> Support also covers staff development, e-learning, study support and
> additional learning needs so it is a very diverse unit.
>
> Our PAL scheme uses trained year 2 undergraduate students (PAL Leaders)
> to facilitate weekly study support sessions for groups of first year
> students from the same course.  Group size is similar to your scheme
> i.e. 15-20 students.  PAL sessions are intended to offer a friendly
> environment to help students in 5 areas: adjust quickly to university
> life; acquire a clear view of course direction and expectations; improve
> their study habits; enhance their understanding of the subject matter of
> their course through collaborative group discussion; and, prepare better
> for assessed work and examinations.
>
> In our evaluations we have received some very positive feedback from
> first year students.  They are very positive on the five areas listed
> above and also point out the value of obtaining a second year student's
> perspective on the course.  They also like the opportunity PAL offers
> them to discuss a range of issues in a supportive environment away from
> teaching staff.  Many like the co-operative aspects, though some don't
> like it at all.
>
> We also offer our PAL Leaders an opportunity to gain some accreditation
> for their work via the Open College Network.  Assessment is based upon a
> portfolio of evidence.
>
> The scheme has grown steadily over the past 4 years to the point where
> it is becoming something of a challenge to resource the support
> necessary for further growth.  This year we have c.75 PAL Leaders
> supporting c. 1100 first year undergraduates.  Next year may well see
> the size of the scheme increase to c.110 PAL Leaders supporting c.1,650
> first years and we have tapped into some Centre of Excellence funding to
> resource this.
>
> You may wish to make contact with Sandie Rudman at Macquarie University
> who has similar interests to you ([log in to unmask]).  I think
> she is also coming to the First Year Conference at Southampton. As
> Bournemouth is very near Southampton, Sandie may well be visiting me
> before/after the conference to discuss PAL and you are very welcome to
> come too.  Please contact me directly if you wish to pay us a visit - my
> email address plus link to the PAL web site at below.
>
> I hope this helps
>
> Hugh
>
> Hugh Fleming
> Senior Lecturer & Learner Support Tutor
> (Peer Assisted Learning and Student Development)
> Academic Services
> Bournemouth University
> Talbot Campus
> Fern Barrow
> Poole
> Dorset  BH12 5BB
> Telephone External: (01202) 965480
> Telephone Internal: 65480
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> PAL Web Site: www.peerlearning.ac.uk
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: learning development in higher education network
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Melissa Staley
> Sent: 10 March 2005 22:56
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Transition & Mentor Programs - I'm new!
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am introducing myself as a long distance member.  I am currently
> coordinating a Learning Support service at the University of Ballarat,
> Australia.  I have been in the position for 12 months and boy has it
> been
> an amazing 12 months!   Learning Support in our university is very
> heavily
> linked with a transition/retention program - infact we are central to
> its
> development and implementation - however this is coming at the expense
> of
> Learning Support!  Are other members experiencing this?
>
> Something that has work for us this year, is a uni wide student mentor
> program which has seen all (1100) first year students receive
> transitional
> support (Focus ="sense of belonging") from a fellow student.  We have
> assigned older students to groups of 15 - 20 new students. We are in
> our
> 4th week of the program and the support and success has been
> immeasurable.
> Coordinating the program across the entire university has been at
> times
> tricky to say the least but it is working.  First year lecturers are
> reporting less transitional concerns amongst students and learning
> support
> has seen a drop in transitional issue appointments.  I am really
> interested
> in finding out if other universities have successful mentor programs
> and
> how linked are they to Learning Support?  I am hoping to attend the
> first
> year conference in South Hampton in July and was also hoping to meet
> with
> other "Learning Support" people and people involved in transition
> program.
>
> This e-mail is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and
> may contain confidential information.  If you have received this e-mail
> in error, please notify the sender and delete this e-mail, which must
> not be copied, distributed or disclosed to any other person.
> Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do
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>


--
Ruth Brown

Academic Developer
Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit
London South Bank University

[log in to unmask]

+44 20 7815 7804