Policy and practice

1. SUPPORTING STUDENT
TRANSITIONS THROUGH
STUDENT PEER
MENTORING: POLICY AND
PRACTICE
DR JOHN BOSTOCK NTF PFHEA
CENTRE FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING (CLT)
EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY
TWITTER: @BOSTOCKBOSTOCK

2. THEME
The session will explore how a Student Peer
Mentoring Policy has vital implications for
effective first year induction and transitions
and how students as partners become real
change agents in the student experience.

3. DISCUSSION AND EXPLORATION INCLUDINGTHE
POSITIVES ANDTHE CHALLENGES OF HOW A STUDENT
PEER MENTORING POLICY CAN:
• Inspire a sense of community and belonging
• Support new and existing students, in terms of student experience and
employability
• Afford appropriate peer support to new students in their transition and
induction into university
• Positively enhance the student experience
• Actively support a university retention strategy

4. POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
• How does the Student Peer Mentoring Policy support the implementation
of opportunities for transferable skills, widening participation, and lifelong
learning?
• How does it advocate best practice as recognised in the wider HE
community?
• How does it ensure students have opportunities to participate in a
Student Peer Mentoring Scheme?

5. SESSION OUTCOMES
• Appreciate the value and the challenges
of creating a new Student Peer
Mentoring policy
• Explore how the implementation of any
policy must positively relate to
context/disciplines/subject areas to be a
credible and relevant endeavour
• Review various operationalisations of a
policy at various times and in various
contexts in the student journey to
ensure effective transitions
• Appreciate the value to both students
and staff of engaging with a student peer
mentoring policy

6. INTRODUCTION TO STUDENT PEER MENTORING
POLICY CREATION INCLUDING CHALLENGES
• Language
• One size fits all?
• Policy rather than strategy - Open to interpretation ( see handout )
• A focus on Pastoral Care, Academic Support, Wellbeing or a mixture of
all
• Duty of care for student peer mentors and mentees

7. AVALUABLE APPROACH IN AIDING STUDENT
TRANSITION, BENEFITTING BOTH MENTEES AND
MENTORS
• It enables individuals to address a wide
range of enquiries, which assist the
process of social and academic
adjustment
• It offers an approach whereby students
help students discover the new world of
university life through the formation of
safe and supportive peer relationships.

8. HOW THE POLICY’S IMPLEMENTATION BECOMES AN
ESTABLISHED SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION
• Opt-in/Opt-out arrangement?
• Students have differing needs at different times
• Must not interfere with student peer mentors’ own work so academic staff actively
facilitate peer mentors within their role, for example through the co-ordination of
timetables
• Employability skills and attributes
• Team work
• Pastoral care (liaising with PersonalTutors)

9. TASK:WHAT DOES A PEER MENTORING SCHEME
ON A TYPICAL PROGRAMME LOOK LIKE?
• TASK: Using the flipchart paper and pens and the Student Peer Mentoring Policy
(Handout) in groups of 3- 5 create a basic diagram or flowchart of a Student Peer
Mentoring Scheme:
• On a 3 year F/T UG programme (i.e. Level 4-6)
• On a 2 year F/T PG programme (i.e. Level 7)
• On a 1 year F/T Professional Programme (any level)

10. DEPARTMENTAL PEER MENTOR COORDINATORS
A Student Peer Mentor Coordinator is a staff member responsible for overseeing peer mentoring arrangements. Each scheme
operates slightly differently and so you as student peer mentors will hear from the student peer mentor coordinator about:
• Appropriate training
• how mentors are allocated to mentees
• rules about whether to meet individually, in pairs or small groups
• what you need to do if you or your mentee want to swap
• how many times you are expected to meet with or contact your mentee(s) throughout the year
• how you are expected to make contact with your mentee(s)
• 'Who's Who' in your peer mentor scheme and/or departmental support arrangements
• what requirements there might be for record keeping
• confidentiality policy and practice within your scheme

11. ENGAGEMENT ACROSS DISCIPLINES
• Media -10 mentors( i.e. second and third years and are assigned to all first years) for 171 students and
is transition focused and retention driven.
• Children andYoung People’s Learning and Development - 4 mentors
• Teaching, Learning and Childhood Development - 3 second year mentors mentoringYear 1 (53)
and 2 mentors forYear 2 (72)
• Primary Education-12 mentors*, 5 from year 2 and 7 from year 3.They support the year one cohort
of approximately 300 students, there are 2 mentors attached to each tutor group. So 2 mentors to 30
mentees.
• Some areas have yet to implement the policy e.g. ODP, Biology, Psychology, Law and Geography
* Aka SAMs (StudentAcademic Mentors)

12. OVERVIEW OF STUDENT PEER MENTOR ACTIVITY
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ho4irFjcqNwfSI12wh0rwmUqkNLSUm31FGPyh
4hhEh8/edit?usp=sharing
• Student Peer Mentoring is not something done in isolation but is interconnected with
many other aspects of the student experience i.e. transitions, personal tutoring, wellbeing.
• Enables us to see more holistically the relevance of Student Peer Mentoring to these
very important aspects and see its impact in important areas such as retention and
attainment.

13. STUDENT PEER MENTORING UPDATE FOHSC
• Faculty of Health and Social Care-Award Scheme Development and Accreditation
Network (ASDAN) accredited e-portfolio system up and running.
• Developing/delivering a 12 hour Semester 2 training package to support students to
gather the evidence for their accreditation.
• Research project to explore how this Peer Mentoring training improves
Wellbeing/Emotional Intelligence for both mentors and mentees.
• 12 months to the first data set.
• All student peer mentors receive 2 day Mental Health First Aid training.

14. NEXT STEPS?
• Peer Mentoring and Peer Mentor: Definitions
• Developing a Student Peer Mentoring Programme:The Benefits
• Student Peer Mentoring Scheme: Strategic Intent
• Purpose of Student Peer Mentoring: Pastoral, skills, disciplinary
• Regular participant evaluation: Scholarship and Research