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.

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