Evaluation of the School of Psychology Peer Mentoring Program - Semester 1, 2000

An outcome evaluation of the Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) during semester 1, 2000 was conducted to determine whether or not the program was successful in reducing student stress and its associated attrition rates for the unit PSY1101 Introduction to Psychology. Second and third year psychology students acted as mentors for the commencing students. The mentees and mentors were surveyed for their perceptions of the program. External students' perceptions were obtained from the unit's online bulletin board. The mentees and mentors believed the PMP had benefited them both personally and academically. The mentees found their first semester of university daunting and were thankful for the support offered by the PMP. The mentors believed the PMP had enabled them to utilise their developing helping skills. Preliminary attrition rates suggest the PMP had an impact on attrition rates. Recommendations for future PMPs include group mentoring, more library assistance, more social events, and the introduction of a university wide transition program.

Students often experience disorientation, isolation, and stress as a result of the transition to university and often lead to university withdrawal (Faiers, 1998; Jones, 1998). Universities provide an extensive range of services such as counselling, academic skills advice, and welfare support to help students complete their chosen courses (Drew, Pike, Pooley, Young, & Breen, 2000). These services are often under-utilised because of student reluctance and a lack of knowledge about them (McKavanagh, Connor, & West, 1996). As a consequence, students may withdraw, fail, and not achieve to their fullest potential (Connor & McKavanagh, 1997), indicating a need for the development of supportive academic environments (Drew et al., 2000). One strategy involves using upper undergraduate students as an invaluable source of information and support for new students (Gerdes & Mallinkrodt, 1994; McKavanagh et al., 1996).

The Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) began as a pilot program in the first semester of 1999 (Drew et al., 2000). Commencing internal students enrolled in PSY1101 Introduction to Psychology were asked if they would like to participate in the PMP. As a result, 30 students were matched with a peer mentor (Drew et al., 2000). The mentors were second and third year students majoring in psychology. Mentors aimed to provide support to their mentees via informal meetings (Pooley, Young, Haunold, Pike, & O'Donnell, 2000) in the form of information regarding university services, administration, and contacting lecturing and tutorial staff. Additionally, the mentors were trained in ethical issues, communication skills, coping with stress, and boundary setting (Pooley et al., 2000). Both the process and outcome evaluations of the pilot PMP were deemed postive (Drew et al .2000). Importantly, the attrition rate for students linked to a mentor was 13%, which was significantly less than the attrition rate (21%) for students not linked to a mentor (Drew et al., 2000; Pooley et al., 2000).

The PMP was expanded in 2000 to accommodate external PSY1101 students (Pooley et al., 2000). External students often feel isolated from their lecturers, tutors, fellow students, and the university campus, and their attrition rates are relatively high (Pooley et al. 2000). In an attempt to reduce these effects, a bulletin board for the unit was set up on the ECU homepage. The mentors from the internal program mentored via the bulletin board. Two or three mentors were rostered onto the board during each week of the semester. All external students with access to the Internet were thus able to participate in the PMP. The mentors, mentees, and staff members post messages on the bulletin board throughout the semester.

The current research aimed to investigate whether or not the PMP was successful in reducing the stress experienced by commencing students and its associated attrition.

Method

Participants

Materials

Procedure

The messages on the bulletin board were content analysed in an effort to explicate the major themes and issues the external students raised in relation to studying PSY1101 in the external mode.

Results

Internal mentees

The mentees thought the program's goals of emotional support, the provision of information and advice, campus orientation, and the extension of friendship networks were met.

Personal expectations of academic and library assistance, meeting people and making friends, and the provision of someone to call "just in case" were somewhat met. Overall, the mentees were relatively satisfied with their first semester of study and their social support networks.

The mentees though that the School of Psychology was a supportive community to a moderate degree. The reasons for this belief included providing support with personal problems, being approachable and friendly, acting as a team, all levels of staff being eager to assist new students, and being available to answer 'silly' questions. The reasons for this belief that the School is not a supportive community included the unwillingness of the university to help, and the lack of social events and get togethers that would encourage socialising. Importantly, almost half of the mentees had extended their support to students not involved in the PMP via sharing knowledge about the university, asking questions for others, and sharing materials with others.

Overall, the mentees were somewhat satisfied with the running of the PMP and with its outcomes. The mentees wrote of how much they appreciated being a part of the program. Two respondents expressed concerns with the mentee-mentor matching system. One of these stated that he or she was matched with a mentor of entirely different circumstances. Another stated that he or she had to ask twice to be matched with a mentor. Lastly, one respondent suggested that all first year students be included in the program.

There were 485 students enrolled in PSY1101 in semester 1, 2000. According the university records. 95 students withdrew from the unit, leaving a preliminary attrition rate of 19.5%. Unfortunately, attrition rates of those linked to a mentor compared to those not linked to a mentor are not available at this time.

Internal mentors

The mentors thought that the aims of providing emotional support, an opportunity for commencing students to mix with continuing students, informing mentees of university services, reducing the attrition rate, and minimising feelings of isolation were met.

The mentors' personal and professional rewards of the PMP included becoming more involved with university life, providing encouragement, developing their interpersonal and communication skills, helping others in a professional manner, providing guidance, and gaining a reference.

The mentors thought the PMP training was useful, with a particular emphasis on the revision of interpersonal skills, computer skills, and using the library and university services. They appreciated the information regarding introducing themselves and the program to the mentees, facilitating mentee learning rather than problem solving, and boundary setting in regards to the mentees' needs.

The mentors thought that their involvement with the PMP was useful to both the mentees and the School of Psychology. Regarding the mentees, the reasons for this success included reducing attrition rates, relieving the mentees' anxiety, providing information, and increasing social networks. It was thought the PMP was useful to the School of Psychology by reducing attrition rates, reducing the time spent by academic staff answering administration type questions, taking a more active interest in their students, and complimenting the ethos of the School.

Suggestions for future changes from the mentors included making the program available to all PSY1101 students, incorporating arranged meetings with mentees in the program, extending more support to the external students, and informing more students about the program.

External PMP

Approximately 20 mentees posted messages on the bulletin board. The mentors provided them encouragement, advice, and practical support. The mentors shared study tips such as writing in the third person, using current sources, reading effectively, writing introductions, referencing style, and exam preparation. The mentors also provided more general advice about time management, motivation, minors and electives, and changing enrolments.

As with the internal PMP, the mentees were able to extend fellow support to fellow mentees via the bulletin board. This was mostly through helping each other with statistics and sharing useful web addresses for accessing journal articles. They shared their concerns regarding transition anxiety, work and family commitments, and their hopes of studying psychology at the postgraduate level. Some mentees planned times to 'chat' in the unit's chat room and to meet each other on campus after the exam.

Fifty-five (31%) of the 176 students enrolled in PSY1101 on an external basis in semester 1, 2000 withdrew from the unit. This figure also includes students that deferred, so the actual attrition rate is likely o be somewhat lower, and compares favourably with rates of 50% and 44.2% in 1997 and 1998.

Discussion and recommendations

Many commencing internal students did not request a mentor and many external students did not (or could not) take advantage of the bulletin board. It has been argued that those commencing students that select into the PMP do so because they already have good coping skills and those that do not volunteer to participate may be the most in need (Pooley et al., 2000). This problem can be overcome by assigning every commencing student to a mentor, regardless of internal/ external status. Regarding the external PMP, those mentees without Internet access many still be mentored via written correspondence. There is also a need for group mentoring, particularly as there are significantly more commencing students than available mentors (Pooley et al., 2000). This would allow all PSY1101 students to be involved in the PMP and minimise the problems associated with the mentor-mentee matching system.

Overall, the reported outcomes were more positive for the mentors than mentees. Whilst the PMP aims for postive outcomes for the mentors, the main goal of mentoring programs is to aid the commencing students. It is thus necessary to increase the positive outcomes for the mentees by creating a more supportive university environment where PMPs are the norm. This may be achieved through the development of a university wide transition program incorporating orientation, online chat and support, social events, the development of learning communities, and links between students and staff (Pargetter, 2000; Peel, 2000; Stewart, 1998).

References

Drew, N. M., Pike, L. T., Pooley, J. A., Young, A. H. C., & Breen, L. (2000, July). School of Psychology Peer Mentoring Pilot Programme. Paper presented at the Pacific Rim Conference - First Year in Higher Education, Brisbane, Australia. [verified 11 Dec 2000] http://www.qut.edu.au/daa/asdu/fye/abstracts/PooleyAbstract.htm
http://www.qut.edu.au/daa/asdu/fye/papers/PooleyPaper.doc

Faiers, S. (1998). Risk factors, mental health, and the transition to university: Recognising the extent of the problem. Paper presented at the Pacific Rim Conference - First Year in Higher Education, Auckland, New Zealand.

Gerdes, H., & Mallinkrodt, B. (1994). Emotional, social, and academic adjustment of college students: A longitudinal study of retention. Journal of Counselling and Development, 72, 281-288.

Jones, B. (1998). The transition from secondary school to university: Who needs help coping and when? Paper presented at the Pacific Rim Conference - First Year in Higher Education, Auckland, New Zealand.

McKavanagh, M., Connor, J., & West, (1996). It's moments like these you need mentors. Paper presented at the Pacific Rim Conference - First Year in Higher Education, Auckland, New Zealand.

Pargetter, R. (2000). Transition: From a school perspective. Journal of Institutional Research, 9, 14-21.

Peel, M. (2000). 'Nobody cares': The challenge of isolation in school to university transition. Journal of Institutional Research, 9, 22-34. http://aw99.aw.flinders.edu.au/aair/jira20001_peel.htm [abstract only, verified 14 Feb 2001]

Pooley, J. A., Young, A., Haunold, S., Pike, L. & O'Donnell, J. (2000). Peer Mentoring Programme manual: 10 steps to helping students successfully adjust to university. Perth, Australia: Edith Cowan University.

Stewart, J. (1998, July). Assisting the transition for first years: Victoria University's Inaugural First Year Orientation - an integrated approach to meeting the needs of first year students. Paper presented at the Pacific Rim Conference - First Year in Higher Education, Auckland, New Zealand.