Professional Documents
Culture Documents
study groups
Training
Email: studentengagment@uhi.ac.uk
Web: www.uhi.ac.uk/mentoring
August 2010, first UHI students gain mentoring skills
Student mentoring and study groups
Student mentoring:
• Supports new students by
providing peer encouragement and
being a positive role model.
• Mentoring can take place in one of
three ways:
1.Arrange a study group for your
peers
2.Give a presentation to new
students
3.Provide 1:1 support
Benefits of mentoring
To the mentee: To the mentor:
• Contact with someone who has • Mentoring is a rewarding and
recent experience of first year worthwhile experience
• Realise that they are not alone • Develop skills that are useful for
• Meet other students study and future employment
• A peer they may be more (mentoring highly valued by
comfortable discussing issues with employers)
(than staff) • Increased leadership and
• Can feel a sense of belonging communication skills
• Better contact with your department
• Get a personal face in a large
institution • Employers look favourably upon
• Can receive lots of information and students that take on responsibility
advice such at this whilst at university
• Develop faster as a student • You will probably find your own
progress as a student to be faster
Student mentoring and study groups
What is mentoring?
A mentor is a mix of four skills: The mentoring mix:
• Coach – helping the mentee achieve specific
targets. May challenge assumptions and
stretch the mentee. The coach is leading
the process. Coaching Guiding
• Counsellor – the most important skill here is
listening. A supportive person for the
mentee to talk to in confidence.
• Networking – everyone needs to be part of
networks to function well. The mentor
introduces the mentee to university
networks – formal and informal.
• Guide – sometimes the mentor ‘gives the Networking Counselling
answer’ from their own experience.
However always giving the answer does not
allow the mentee to grow in themselves.
What is the best mix of these attributes?
Are there others we should include?
Are there any other areas you think mentors should avoid?
What potential problems could you see in the work of a
mentor?
Could overlap with other college services or lack of
specialist knowledge be issues to address?
By good referral to specialists, we can avoid potential areas
of conflict with mentees or staff.
Student mentoring and study groups
• Set boundaries for what you can and cannot do early on (socially and
academically) – you could use this discussion to find out what your
mentees want to get from their sessions and what you are able to provide
• Define the frequency of contact and when you might refer them to
someone else for support
• Be sensible about the situations you put yourself in
• It is good to be friendly but you are in a position of responsibility – you
must take this into account
Discuss how you will set the boundaries of your mentoring in advance today,
and how you will set out and explain those to new mentors.
Student mentoring and study groups
How do mentors work?
You can let your fellow students know that you are their mentor by:
As a mentor, you are ideally placed to organise a study club. A mentor does
not teach the group. Rather this is a self-help group, where students will
study together and help each other. Your role is simply to facilitate the group.
This section will review how to go about the process of setting up and
running a study club.
Setting up a study club
We advise mentors to take some time to set up the study club. Think about
and set up the following:
•Book a room at your campus, usually this may be done through Reception
OR
•Decide on an online format to meet – perhaps using the online forum in
Blackboard or another online chat function
•Decide on a time of the week to meet, and frequency of meetings (for
example, Tuesday lunchtimes on every second week).
•Think about how will you introduce yourself to the group
•Think about how you will introduce the group members to each other, and
what you will do to make new members welcome who join in later weeks.
•How can you make the early sessions feel relaxed, enjoyable, and friendly?
Conducting sessions
It is important to prepare in order to ensure the session goes well. We recommend:
•Personally invite students you know to attend. You may also use email, posters, and ask
staff to encourage students to attend.
•Email your class (the entire class so no one feels excluded!) a few days before to remind
everyone of the time and venue, and if there is a topic to remind everyone to take
certain books, or anything they may need.
•You could work together as a large group, or have time where people work in small
groups.
•It might be useful to have study sessions were students work together on that week’s
work in small groups.
•Remember that the group is learning from each other, and studying together. Your role
is just to facilitate this to happen.
•Make a list of any questions that come up that they group do not know the answer to.
Someone can volunteer to ask their lecturer on behalf of the group.
Redirecting questions
Because you are arranging and facilitating these sessions, there can be a
tendency amongst students to think you have the answers, or that you are
there to teach. It is important to keep the group focussed that this is a group
for everyone to help each other. Everyone will have strengths that they can
help other students with. Redirecting questions mean the group has to
answer, not the mentor.
This assumes that you will be working in a group. Most mentors prefer only mentoring
one to one. That is fine, in fact that is really what mentoring is. The purpose of group
work is not so much actual mentoring, but to find out who could benefit from mentoring.
Student mentoring and study groups
International students
International students will face extra issues:
• Culture shock
• Home sickness
• Practical issues – health services, banks, etiquette
• Fitting in and feeling a sense of belonging
• English language is often an issue
• We do not want to segregate but integrate
• Useful for our international mentors to share their experiences
Counselling skills
• You are NOT a counsellor, nor are you expected to take on this
responsibility
• But, you can develop skills to encourage others to respond to you, and you
can recognise when someone might need help
• You should be aware of the issues that many student face whilst beginning
university
• Know when to refer a student for further support and ask for help yourself
Student mentoring and study groups
UHI academic partner counsellors can help with all of these issues. They
provide time and space to examine, clarify and understand concerns, and
explore and develop more effective ways of coping.
Student mentoring and study groups
• Home sickness – do not go home, do not ring home too much, as mentors
do not highlight the differences in backgrounds. Home sickness is often
linked to depression – natural to feel homesick but if still after 4-5 weeks
should seek further help.
• Relationship problems - parents can see child leaving home as a chance to
split up, no feeling of belonging.
• Anxiety – social and academic performance, use your own experiences to
help mentees
• Depression – look out for: sleep problems (getting to sleep, staying asleep
and waking up), eating habits (over or under eating), needing alcohol or
drugs to function, isolating oneself
• Don’t look for problems – mostly students will settle in after a week or
two.
• If you see signs of depression, ask for help and advice.
Student mentoring and study groups
Confidentiality
Providing a presentation
Mentoring through presentations
It is sometimes helpful for new students to hear about your experiences in a group setting. By
arranging to give a presentation, you can help new students by sharing your experiences and
insights of study at University. You should aim to speak for around 20 minutes, and then allow
some time for the other students to ask questions and have some discussion. You don’t need
to have all the answers. Rather, be prepared to signpost students to further information, and
share your experiences as a student.
Set up a presentation to new students by contacting your PAT or programme leader to make
arrangements to meet with the new students.
Points to remember:
• Prepare your talk in advance
• Talk about your experiences as a student, things you got right, and wrong
• Give plenty of time for the other students to ask questions.
• At the end of the presentation let students know how to contact you if they have further
questions.
Part 4
Other information
Student mentoring and study groups
Self-awareness
Sets clear
Good listener
goals
Interested in
Understanding The effective
developing
of others mentor
others
Competent Able to
student encourage
Good humour
Student mentoring and study groups
Encourages
Nurtures
Teaches
Diversity mentoring
How do we best respond to diverse groups?
Discussion:
• Discuss scenarios where you have
faced, or know someone who has, a
problem/issue to resolve at UHI
• What would you do as a mentor?
• Give advice as you now would as a
mentor
• Feedback to the whole group
Student mentoring and study groups
We offer:
• Self help materials provided on the website
• Free, confidential e-guidance and telephone guidance services
• Free, confidential career coaching service.
Mentors are encouraged to direct students to the careers website and to careers coaches who
have been trained to help students develop and work towards their career goals.
Find out more at: www.uhi.ac.uk/careers
Student mentoring and study groups
Red Button
The University of the Highlands and Islands is committed to enhancing your student experience. Use
the Red Button to let us know how we can improve our service, or to tell us what you like about your
university!
If you have had a good experience at the University of the Highlands and Islands, or would like to thank
a member of staff who has helped you, we would also like to hear from you. Let us know what you like
about your University, and we will pass on your comments to those concerned. You can also use this
form to tell us about any suggestions or ideas you might have to make the university even better.
Making mentoring work:
The mentor co-ordinator is here to help you! Feel free to get in touch at any
time for help or advice:
studentengagement@uhi.ac.uk