Student Life
Peer Mentoring
What is it?
The Melbourne Peer Mentor Program connects commencing undergraduates with an instant network of familiar faces to help make the transition to university life easy and enjoyable. This includes meeting your mentor group at the start of the semester so you are connected from the beginning and engaging in regular sessions throughout the semester to build those connections.
Mentors and Mentees should download the my.uniLife app as this will be the platform that holds information about your session times, dates, location and group members.
Want to know more about how the thrive in your first semester of University and hear from this years Mentors? Then check out this podcast made by our Peer Leaders, Dan and Andy.
Mentors
Being a Mentor gives you the chance to support first year students with the transition to University life. This volunteer role will give you valuable skills in facilitation, communication, and engagement. There will also be opportunities throughout your mentor journey for professional development.
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Why be a Mentor?
Develop your skills:
- Gain leadership training and experience.
- Develop your interpersonal, communication and group facilitation skills.
- Build your professional network within the University community.
Make a difference:
- Help new students succeed in their first year by sharing your experience.
- Develop a sense of belonging with students and the University.
- Gain a deeper understanding of cultural differences and diversity.
- Make new friends and meet new people.
Be rewarded:
- Demonstrate your participation to employers with your co-curricular record.
- Contribute your participation to the Leaders in Communities Award (LiCA).
- Receive an exclusive mentor hoodie!
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How do I become a Mentor?
Mentors should be in their 2nd or 3rd year (preferred) of their degree, with 2 semesters of study left before completing their degree.
The recruitment process:
- Submitting an application
- Participation in an assessment centre
- Advised of outcome
- Attend mandatory training
- Allocated to a group of up to 10 first year students (if your timetable does not allow you to be matched, you will be placed in the stand-by pool)
Recruitment for becoming a mentor opens a couple of months prior to the commencement of the next semester. You can find information about lodging an application for becoming a mentor here.
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What do I need to do as a mentor?
Being a Mentor should be a rewarding experience for you. We want to make sure that you understand what we expect of you in relation to the role. The expectations include, but are not limited to:
- Attend all training to prepare you for your role
- Behave respectfully towards others and provide an inclusive environment for all
- Provide friendly and informative guidance, and support mentees with identifying resources, programs, services and connecting with people
- Model help-seeking behaviours and support mentees to solve problems or hurdles they encounter
- Use/share your personal experience and knowledge to meet the needs of the mentees
- Be a point of contact for the mentees
- Hold a valid Working with Children Check
- Abide by the Code of Conduct
- Refer any issues or unresolved conflicts to the Melbourne Peer Mentoring Staff
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What support will I receive?
We have a range of supports in place to help you throughout your Mentoring experience.
Peer Leaders
Our Peer Leaders are students employed to work with us to assist in delivering the Melbourne Peer Mentoring Program. They will check on you throughout the semester, be there for you to ask questions to, and be able to point you in the right direction with anything that needs to be referred on to another team.Student Life team
The Student Life team are the professional staff delivering this program. They can assist with any questions you might have, organise training and workshops for your professional development, and handle the day-to-day operation of the Melbourne Peer Mentoring Program. Find out how to contact us. -
I want some more information
More information is available here for current peer mentors or students wishing to become mentors. This includes useful session guides, resources, the application portal and more information about the structure of the program.
If you still have some unanswered questions, please feel free to contact us.
"I am stoked to have been able to help make my peer group's transition to uni life a smooth and enjoyable one. I wish I had had the opportunity to engage in this sort of program when I was in their position."
Sarah, Bachelor of Biomedicine
"Being a peer mentor for the first year Bachelor of Oral Health students has made me proud of my journey as a student. Overtime, I could see that my mentees became really well acquainted and that the mentoring sessions felt natural, introspective and enjoyable."
Linna, Bachelor of Oral Health
Mentees
The Melbourne Peer Mentoring Program is designed to match you with a group of commencing undergraduate students and a Mentor from your course. This allows you to build relationships and be connected with the University of Melbourne from day one. We hope some, if not all, of these connections continue through your degree, increases your social interactions with your peers and gives you a wider network of people within the University community.
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How does it work?
You will be notified of your group and prompted to download the my.uniLife app. The app hosts information about when your scheduled sessions are, who is in your group and you can access Chatter - the apps group messaging function.
There will be 5 sessions across the year, 4 in your first Semester and 1 in the next semester to re-connect with your group. The sessions are themed around key stages in the semester such as getting to know the University and services available in your first session all the way through to preparing for exams!
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How do I become a Mentee?
You don't need to do anything! As long as you are a first time commencing undergraduate student, you will automatically be placed in a mentoring group. If you have not heard anything by Orientation week, please get in touch with us so we can make sure you are not missing out.
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Benefits of being a mentee
- Opportunity to meet new students and make some friends
- Opportunity to find out more information about student engagement programs, workshops and events to get involved in
- Opportunity to find out more information on available student support services to help with questions and concerns
- Opportunity to build relationships and feel more supported by, and connected to, the University
- Platform to reduce potential feelings of isolation by providing a key person of contact and a support network of peers in the first few months of University
- Positively assist with the transition into life at University
- Opportunity to “find your people” or your place at University
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Expectations
As a Mentee, we have expectations that you should be meeting to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. They include, but are not limited to:
- Actively engage with your group, sessions, and activities
- Behave respectfully towards others and provide an inclusive environment for all
- Go to your mentor for support and guidance - in some cases they may refer you to different services to get specialised support or assistance
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I want some more information
You can find more information about being a mentee here. This page has details about the structure of the program and some useful FAQ's.
If you still have some unanswered questions, please feel free to contact us.