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Reaching New Heights: Creating a Campus-Wide Peer Advising Program

Reaching New Heights: Creating a Campus-Wide Peer Advising Program. Ruth O. Bingham, Director Megumi Makino-Kanehiro, Director. NACADA National Conference Denver, CO October 2011. University of Hawai ‘ i at Mānoa in Honolulu, O ‘ ahu. astronomy. environmental. ethnomusicology.

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Reaching New Heights: Creating a Campus-Wide Peer Advising Program

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  1. Reaching New Heights: Creating a Campus-Wide Peer Advising Program Ruth O. Bingham, Director Megumi Makino-Kanehiro, Director NACADA National Conference Denver, CO October 2011

  2. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Honolulu, O‘ahu

  3. astronomy environmental ethnomusicology travel industry management medicine tropical second languages agriculture vulcanology studies business Pacific-Asian L a w indigenous oceanography Asian theater East-West c u l t u r e s

  4. Challenges: • Tight budgets • Increasing student numbers • High student:advisor ratios & overworked advisors • Increased pressure to improve retention & graduation • New campus initiatives: Mandatory advising Mandatory declaration of major Expanded learning communities New sophomore program New transfer programs New registration options … argh!

  5. The Vision: a campus-wide system • 6 goals for peer advising: • Ease academic advisors’ workloads • Improve students’ access to advising • Increase student engagement and student-to-student connections • Improve the accuracy of information spread from student-to-student • To reward students for their service to fellow students • To acknowledge the pivotal role advising plays in achieving our institutional mission & goals

  6. Were we asking too much?

  7. The Mānoa Peer Advisor Program Application process Year-long commitment Summer training & graduation Placement with advising units Hours of service throughout Fall/Spring Ongoing training With advising unit (varies) With MPA (monthly) Year-end celebration Evaluations

  8. MPA Mission Statement “MPA strives to provide the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa student body with available and resourceful peer advisors who will guide the students through all stages in their college careers.”

  9. Manning the Vision: • Existing peer advising/mentoring programs to use as templates • ACE learning communities • Mānoa Advising Center (MAC) • Pre-Health/Pre-Law Advising Center (PAC) • Existing Directors with experience running peer advising/mentoring programs • Existing Senior Peer Advisors capable of creating a new program

  10. MPA Program - 2010

  11. MPA Program - 2011

  12. The Program’s Structure • Administration • MPA Supervisors (SUPs) • Peer Advisor Leaders (PALs) • Graduate Peer Advisors (GPAs) • Mānoa Peer Advisors (MPAs) & • Advising Unit Supervisors (Units)

  13. Peer Advisor Leaders (PALS) - 2010

  14. Peer Advisor Leaders (PALs) & Graduate Peer Advisors (GPAs) - 2011

  15. The Supervisors - 2011

  16. Financing the Vision with Student Success Fellowships Brainstorm of VCAA Reed Dasenbrock

  17. The Budget $65 per MPA for Summer Training: Materials for Training/Activities $30 MPAs: (2) T-shirts & Nametag $20 Graduation (certificates, lunch, etc.) $15 Fellowships:

  18. Other Essentials • Space! • Class credit? • Creating a curriculum • Ongoing training? • Celebrations? • Time!!!

  19. Timeline (…after approval & funding) • Fall #1: • Interview & choose PALs • Spring #1: • Open MPA & Unit applications • Create training goals, outline, materials, curriculum • Interview & choose MPAs • Break: “Planning Bootcamp” for SUPs & PALs • Summer: • Training! … ending with Graduation & Placement • Fall & Spring #2: • Run program and start next year’s cohort

  20. Benefits • Student ambassadors, promoting student engagement, commitment to service & commitment to excellence • Fellowship with fellow MPAs &connection to UHM • SUP-PAL mentoring component & MPA ‘ohana • Promoting a campus-wide culture/philosophy • Consistency of advising across campus • Implementing a campus-wide advisor training program

  21. Challenges & Tips Clarifying responsibilities & boundaries (who does what, when, & how) Size of leadership team Scheduling for ongoing training Scheduling conflicts Guidelines & contracts COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION!!!

  22. Was it worth it? • “this program really helped me reconnect to UHM. I had been feeling lost in the crowd but now I know that there are other students like me with the same heart, drive, ambition and personality. It helped me gain faith in the university. I also am so glad that I was able to open myself up to these students because I now realize that a room full of strangers is a room full of potential friends.” -MPA, Year 1

  23. Could this work on your campus?

  24. Essential Differences

  25. Mahalo e aloha! Mānoa Peer Advisors Program University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa www2.hawaii.edu/~uhmpa Ruth O. Bingham, PhD ruth@hawaii.edu Megumi Makino-Kanehiro, PhD makino@hawaii.edu Please remember to turn in your evaluations! (C276)

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