Student mentoring and study groups

Student mentoring and 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 New to University? Life and study at university requires adjustment. It is not the same as school, college or work. What challenges do new students face? Are these challenges the same for everyone? What about mature students, those from overseas or those coming from a further education (college) background? What are the main social, personal and academic issues a new student will encounter? Discuss these topics.

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: • Arrange a study group for your peers • Give a presentation to new students • Provide 1:1 support • Always referring students who require help to specialist services – student advisers, careers coaches, student support etc. and with the support of staff at all times.

Student mentoring and study groups Benefits of mentoring To the mentee: • Contact with someone who has recent experience of first year • Realise that they are not alone • Meet other students • A peer they may be more comfortable discussing issues with (than staff) • Can feel a sense of belonging • Get a personal face in a large institution • Can receive lots of information and advice • Develop faster as a student To the mentor: • Mentoring is a rewarding and worthwhile experience • Develop skills that are useful for study and future employment (mentoring highly valued by employers) • Increased leadership and communication skills • Better contact with your department • Employers look favourably upon students that take on responsibility such at this whilst at university • 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: • Coach – helping the mentee achieve specific targets. May challenge assumptions and stretch the mentee. The coach is leading the process. • 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 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? The mentoring mix: Coaching Guiding Counselling Networking Friend, adviser, supporter, encourager

Student mentoring and study groups How do students use their mentoring skills? Each student will use their mentoring skills in their own way, taking account of your own experience and areas of confidence, but working within these boundaries: • Be a friendly face and a known person to those who may not know anyone else • Give insight in what to expect from study at university • Offer general guidance and support throughout the students first year • Offer information and informal support, making use of resources provided • Provide a link between new and existing students • Offer an ongoing mentor service to students via email or perhaps at regular hours in an appointed place on campus, or online • Will have their own background which will give them a specific area of expertise, for example disabilities, mature students, international issues etc.

Student mentoring and study groups There are some areas of that mentors should beware of and try to avoid! 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. • Being an advisor or counsellor to the mentee • Becoming a new best friend or confidante • Avoiding specialist areas such as finance, student support, careers advice etc.

Student mentoring and study groups Setting the boundaries • 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? • Mentors could do one or more of the following: • Facilitating a study club on campus • Provide a presentation to new students • Meeting individually with students who are known to need the support • Skype or online support to individuals or small groups • Email support • Regular meetings for coffee with all mentored students (this can work particularly well as the students gain support from each other also in addition to the mentor) • Working with a local student association or HISA to organise social events – parties, day trips, visits to local places. This is particularly for international students. • Online support via the website for any student with a question

Student mentoring and study groups Working with your mentees • You are there to be contacted if your mentees need you - with confidentiality • They may contact you by phone, email, or in person • You should have specific ideas of the content of your meetings - social and academic • A regular meeting time and place is preferable Mentors will most commonly either: • Invite a small group to form a study club, or • Work one to one with a few students, or • Provide a presentation to new students

Student mentoring and study groups In summary the role of mentors is to:

Part 1 Mentoring an individual

Student mentoring and study groups • Getting started – matching with mentees • It is important to get in touch with the students you will be mentoring early on. At UHI the mentoring is voluntary offered to students. It is not compulsory, as with all the best mentor services! • You can let your fellow students know that you are their mentor by: • Putting up a poster inviting the new students to take part. • Contacting the new students by email and let them know about the mentor network. You could use blackboard or another instant message service. • Put your ‘profile’ on the mentor website • The best method is to agree some kind of matching scheme with your course leader. The mentor coordinator can assist and help you with this, please ask! • Students may contact the mentor co-ordinator to be matched to a mentor. Or they may contact you directly, if that is the case, and you feel you would like to mentor them, always let the mentor co-ordinator know who you are mentoring. If you feel that they would be better mentored by someone else, direct them to the co-ordinator to be matched.

Student mentoring and study groups Structuring the first one to one meeting – a checklist • Where shall we meet, and for how long? – PROP – professional, relaxed, open, purposeful for both parties. • What do we want/need to know about each other? • Social: career history, domestic circumstances, interests outside college. • Career/study ambition: what do you like/dislike about UHI, your achievements or failures, your fears or confidence, what is your picture of success, how clear are the mentee’s goals? • Development goals: what does the mentee want to improve, what are their career aims (see UHI Careers Service slide), where would the mentee most value guidance. • What will make the relationship satisfying and useful for both of us? • What expectations do we have of each other and what are the ground rules? • What are our priorities? • Do we want to set an agenda for the next meeting or keep it informal? • Are there any issues we should get to work on now?

Student mentoring and study groups What should the next meetings consist of? Campus based mentors and mentees could meet informally once a month or so to go over how students are getting on. Find out from the students what their issues are. Have one item ready that you would like to talk about – for example: exams, time management, preparing for assignments etc. Look out for students who would like extra support and offer one to one sessions. Online students can be emailed to see how they are getting on. Try to do something other than just ask how they are. Perhaps send an email talking about your own experiences at that stage of the year to get conversation started.

Student mentoring and study groups The final meeting It is up to you and your student/s to decide when to stop mentoring. There will probably be a time when it is clear that the mentee no longer needs your assistance, but it is good to review at that stage what has taken place in the mentoring process. It is always a time when people like to reflect on what has happened until that point. It is also a time to encourage students who might be feeling discouraged after exam results! The final meeting with your individual mentees would usually take place in the second semester. Have a general discussion about the student’s experiences. Tell them about the online evaluation form. It is up to you whether you keep in touch – we encourage this as it is good for you and your mentees. And encourage anyone who might be showing potential to sign up as a mentor! Tip: it is easy for mentoring to feed our own ego. Remember that success is the student not needing us any more.

Student mentoring and study groups E – Mentoring Some students are not often on campus. How can we keep in touch with them? Tip: It is really important that the mentee knows they have our full attention. Make sure there are no interruptions or background noise while on the phone. Give them our full attention. It may help to mentally picture them in our minds, this helps us concentrate on them. People on the other end of the phone know when we are not paying full attention to them! • Email • Phone • Blackboard • Facebook Questions • How can we make best use of technology to keep in touch? • Are there advantages to mentoring at a distance? • What could you do to build a distance relationship with another student?

Part 2 Facilitating a study club

Student mentoring and study groups Is mentoring group work? We don’t assume that you will be working in a group. You may 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. The best work of mentoring is always a one to one. A group setting is actually unsuitable for good quality mentoring as people will not open up in a group. Mentors who work remotely with students, by email, Blackboard or phone will always mentor in a one to one setting. When working one to one, always have an idea what you would like to achieve from the session, but let the mentee be the main guide as to what they would like to achieve. Your role is to facilitate them to excel. Let them set the targets, but you challenge them to go further!

Student mentoring and study groups How to set up a study club A highly effective method of mentoring is to set up a self-help study club. Often students would like to get together to support each other in their studies. By working together as a group you can develop study skills and work through problems more effectively. 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. Some useful methods of redirecting questions: “Can anyone help answer that question?” “Does anyone know of a good book or resource for this?” “What was said in the class about this?”

What should a study club consist of? If you wish to have a very informal group, a study club can just be an opportunity for students to study together. By meeting together, you can ask questions of others, share ideas, and benefit from other students being around to encourage you. Alternatively, you might wish to make the session more structured. In addition to working individually or in small groups, you might like to meet together as a group to discuss a topic of interest. For example, if an assignment is due, you may wish to discuss the questions, or referencing. By agreeing a topic in advance of the meeting, it can provide a structure for the session, and encourage everyone to contribute. It also brings the group together to work on a topic of common interest. Towards the end of the semester, you will probably want to spend a session on exam advice. Good materials are available from the induction resources available on the University’s website. See http://induction.uhi.ac.uk/. You may also wish to use these resources for other sessions throughout the year, especially in the first few weeks when students are attempting to get to grips with the methods of study at the University

Student mentoring and study groups Dealing with group dynamics • Think about where socially everyone will feel comfortable • Listen to each group member • Ask for explanations and ask questions to engage discussion • Open the conversation to the whole group • Look for blank stares and those that avoid eye contact • Try to keep to a structured session plan to avoid conversations straying onto inappropriate subjects – use activities • Have some activities of topics for discussion in reserve in case you need to steer the conversation in a different direction 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 How can we help students to overcome these issues? What other special groups might particularly benefit from a mentor?

Student mentoring and study groups 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 Basic counselling awareness Counsellors work with a variety of difficulties and issues. In universities problems include: studies and exams, personal relationships, identity, loneliness, anxiety, depression, suicidal feelings, homesickness, family problems, cultural issues, trauma, life changes, bereavement and loss, eating difficulties, drug or alcohol problems, life crises, mental health issues, experiences of abuse or discrimination. The most common issues are usually home sickness, challenges of independent learning, making friends and relationship problems. 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 Some basic advice: • 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 Mentor relationships are actually rarely completely confidential. However privacy is very important. It is better for a mentor not to be a member of staff, as students feel much more comfortable talking to a peer and someone who will not be marking their work! As a general rule, everything discussed in the mentor relationship is confidential. There are exceptions, however. If you have reason to believe that your mentee could be of harm to themselves, or others, that should be reported. However, in general, what is discussed between the mentor and the mentee is private. It should not be discussed with staff or other students. The ground rules should be explained at the start. Also if you feel something should be reported to staff, such as several students struggling with the same piece of work, then simply ask for permission to mention it from the student. You can feedback class issues without mentioning student names.

Student mentoring and study groups Signposting An important aspect of the role is signposting students to other sources of help and support. Often students feel hesitant about getting in touch with staff to seek help. Your encouragement can help them overcome this. Keep in mind all the staff who might be helpful to your students. As well as the obvious ones, such as lecturers and personal academic tutors, there are many others: • Library staff. The library service is one of the most important resources for students. Staff can be an invaluable help. Also remember the library service online, which includes referencing information: www.uhi.ac.uk/libraries • Online resources. Encourage students to read the students section of the website, which has many useful resources. www.uhi.ac.uk/en/students. There is also an excellent induction resource; http://induction.uhi.ac.uk, with many useful references that students will want to return to during their studies. • Support staff. Finance, counselling, non-academic support, I.T. services and student services are all available to help students throughout their studies. • Red Button. If your students are not sure who to contact, or want to give some feedback, positive or negative, to the University, use the Red Button feedback service. www.uhi.ac.uk/red-button.

Part 3 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 What makes an effective mentor?

Student mentoring and study groups What does an effective mentor do?

Student mentoring and study groups Diversity mentoring How do we best respond to diverse groups? Mature students, young people, different ethnic groups, disabled students, international students… It is actually best to include everyone in the same mentoring programme. Diverse groups tend not to value a mentor system for their benefit as it is seen as making them different. Mentees vary in terms of their wants. Some value someone of them same group as they are. Others specifically want someone from a separate group, perhaps the group they feel is not disadvantaged. So we respond by being flexible and try to supply the mentor that the mentee wants!

Student mentoring and study 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 Mentoring as a life skill • Mentors are increasingly used in business. You could take your skills with you. • Or, you could set up a mentor programme. • How do you mentor where there is no formal mentor programme? • How do we find ourselves good mentors throughout life?

Student mentoring and study groups The University of the Highlands and Islands Careers and Employability Centre Careers planning is a subject of interest for many students as the purpose of being at university if often career related. Mentors have a valuable role in encouraging students in relation to their career planning. There are two common misconceptions related to career planning. Either people think careers planning is for those who don’t know what they want to do, or that it is for those who do and need help getting there. In truth everyone can benefit from taking some time out to reflect on their life goals and how they can achieve what they want. 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! Compliments, thanks and suggestions 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: Take time to practice your mentoring skills Feedback to the mentor co-ordinator Refer students to appropriate staff as required 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

Student mentoring and study groups