Educational Session Title:

Students with Disabilities: Mentoring for College Success

Educational Program Category:
Advising & Helping
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
Student Learning and Development
Ideal Audience:
Graduate Students
New Professionals
Mid-Level Professionals
Program Presentation Method
Lecture
Keywords that describe the content of the program:
Designing and Implementing Programming
Peer Mentoring
Students with Disabilities
Program Abstract (80 word max)
Research indicates that student engagement, like that fostered by a peer mentoring
program, is a predictor of success and retention. As transitioning to college can be
difficult for students with disabilities, their engagement is a priority. This session will
detail how employing peer mentors for students with disabilities, rather than
professionals, benefits students, staff, and institutions. Discussion will include steps to
design and implement the Peer Mentor Program, giving participants opportunities to learn
strategies for implementing programs on their campuses.
Detailed Program Description
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of the session, program participants will be able to:
1. Articulate 2 advantages peer mentor programs can have for student
affairs professionals, mentors, and mentees.
2. Describe 2 reasons why incoming students with disabilities can
uniquely benefit from having a peer mentor, rather than a faculty or
staff mentor, upon entry into college.
3. Apply 2-3 steps toward implementing similar programming

Program Content:
As access to higher education increases, the number of students with disabilities
on our campuses is also expanding. Many of these students enter college never having
advocated for themselves. The transition to college is difficult for many students, and
especially for students with disabilities, as the focus of special education programs in K12 is on success, while the Americans with Disabilities Act focuses on access within
postsecondary education. With this in mind, and with the awareness that student success
and retention are key areas of importance for most institutions, the Disability Services for
Students Office at Western Michigan University designed and implemented a Peer
Mentor Program to act as a means of support for students with disabilities making the
transition into college.
This session will detail how the Peer Mentor Program, one of the few of its kind,
utilizes the traditional concept of mentoring as a best practice, but rather than pairing
students with faculty or staff, makes the innovative move to pair each student with a
disability with another student with a disability who has been successful in the college
setting. The session will also explore why choosing upperclassmen with disabilities as
mentors, provides a more effective mode of support for student success than traditional
staff pairings. The Peer Mentor Program has created a supportive environment to help
incoming students succeed in the college arena, and has also created job opportunities for
students with disabilities who otherwise might struggle to secure campus employment.
Lastly, this program has aided in a positive shift in the climate of the Disability Services
for Students Office. As the Professional Competencies advocate, this program gives
practitioners the opportunity to identify systemic barriers to equality and inclusiveness,

and then advocate for and implement means of dismantling them (p.11) for students
with disabilities.
Research has illustrated that peer connections outside the classroom can have a
positive effect on student success, both for the mentee and the mentor. Astins (1996)
research on student development noted that:
the strongest single source of influence on cognitive and affective development is
the students peer groupthe characteristics of the peer group and the extent of
the students interaction with that peer group have enormous potential for
influencing virtually all aspects of the students educational and personal
development. Indeed, the study strongly suggests that the peer group is powerful
because it has the capacity to involve the student more intensely in the educational
experience (p.590).
In addition, a literature review by Brown, Takahashi, & Roberts (2010), indicated that
mentor programs for students with disabilities in higher education, while limited in
research, have shown that students reflected on mentoring as a needed, valuable, and
positive component in the transition from high school to postsecondary education or a
career (p.106). Brown et. al (2010) analyzed mentoring programs in terms of student
success outcomes, and noted the usefulness of mentoring for academic, career, and
social skills; and the value of establishing long-term mentoring relationships (p.108).
Lastly, Astins (1996) research on student development indicates that student involvement
can have positive effects on academic success as well as retention. As our presentation
will demonstrate, participating in the Peer Mentor Program reinforces and develops

strong connections to the Disability Office, an upperclassmen peer, other resources on

campus, and to the institution as a whole.
Session Agenda:
-Introductions & Overview of Agenda (5)
-Review of related research in the field (5)
-Identifying the need (Access vs. Success): for incoming students, current students, and
university staff (5)
-Peer vs. non-peer mentoring: (5)
-How we designed and launched the program (15)
-Benefits and results: To mentors, mentees, and university community (15)
-Cross-campus collaborations and benefits (5)
-Questions & Comments (5)
References
Astin, A. (1996). Involvement in learning revisited: Lessons we have learned. Journal
of College Student Development, 40(5), 587-597.
Brown, S. E., Takahashi, K., & Roberts, K. D. (2010). Mentoring individuals with
disabilities in postsecondary education: A review of the literature. Journal of
Postsecondary Education and Disability, 23(10), 98-110.
College Student Educators International. National Association of Student Personnel
Administrators (U.S.). (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs
practitioners. Washington, DC: College Student Educations International.

xceptionalPracticesProgram(20min.):Introduction(purpose,
rationale,explanationofhowthispracticeadvanceshigher
education/studentaffairs,andconnectiontoprofessional
competencyyouselected);DescriptionofExceptional
Practice(project/programgoals,implementation,andbrief
overviewofassessment/evaluationresults),MethodofProgram
Presentation;ProgramOutline;andPresenter(s)
Familiarity/ExpertiseonTopic.