FYC Peer Mentors

Position Description

FYC Peer Mentors are paid positions that provide valuable service by helping First-Year Courses support students’ transition to and immersion in college academic life. Students’ work in this role will contribute to their pre-professional development as they consider whether their intellectual and career interests are leading them to graduate school, professional school, or a job after graduation.

Many FYC faculty make use of student mentors in their courses.  On average, mentors provide six hours per week of support for 15 weeks. Requests for additional hours are considered with appropriate justification. A successful course often depends on developing healthy relationships among all participants. Having a student mentor for your FYC can facilitate this process by modelling engagement in intellectual activities and encouraging first-year students’ involvement in campus activities. 

Because FYC mentors hold similar status as the students being mentored, they serve a special role in assisting students acclimate to the academic culture at Hamilton. The role of FYC mentor also carries authority through the endorsement of the professor. Because of the unique role of FYC mentors, faculty and their FYC mentors should be aware of the ethical responsibilities associated with these positions. 

Regular meetings between the instructor and mentor will ensure a successful experience for all parties involved -- the mentor, the instructor, and the students in the class.

FYC Mentors are required to complete training before the start of classes.

Possible Mentor Functions 

• A student mentor can serve as a knowledgeable guide for new college students and can help contextualize the work of the course. 
• A mentor can model ways to engage in effective class discussions.
• A mentor can also serve as an advocate or facilitator in directing students to appropriate resources on campus. 
• A mentor  may also serve as an informal resource for academic advising. 
• You may find it helpful to have your mentor reach out to students in your class over the summer (or winter break for spring courses) to establish an early point of contact and create a sense of belonging in your course and to the institution.
• A mentor does not replicate the duties of a TA; e.g., the mentor would not be expected to grade work.

Other possible uses for the FYC mentor’s time: providing supplemental office hours, facilitating research lab activities. Mentors should not be used to replace tutors in areas where trained peer tutoring exists such as in the Writing Center, Oral Communication Center, and Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning Center. 

Mentor Training

To serve as an FYC mentor, students are expected to meet with the instructor and to receive training to learn about expectations associated with their role as a peer mentor. The training will raise awareness around responsibilities, safety and risk precautions, and professional boundaries, among other topics related to working with peers. For example, mentors will learn about ethical standards such as respect, professionalism, dignity, diversity, confidentiality, commitment and integrity that have been recommended for peer tutors by professional tutor organizations.  Please refer to Mentor Ethical Standards for a summary of ethical standards as recommended by the International Mentor Training Program.

Hiring a Mentor

Mentors are hired in the semester before the FYC is offered. To support faculty in recruiting mentors and to increase accessibility to this leadership opportunity, the FYC Advisory Committee posts descriptions of the FYC Peer Mentor position on the campus Handshake tool for student employment.  If you know of a student you wish to hire as a mentor, please reach out to them to encourage them to apply when the Handshake posting is up after spring break.  

After the closing date for applications on Handshake, faculty will be provided with a list of students interested in being a mentor for their course.  Faculty may contact students at this time to see whether they will be a good fit for their course. 

Select an FYC Mentor

Faculty select their own course mentors through the Handshake process.  Some considerations relevant to choosing a course mentor, the relative importance of which may vary with course and department and instructor, include:

• The potential mentor’s ability to serve as a model for first-year students;
• The potential mentor’s interest in working with first-year students; 
• The potential mentor’s ability to relate to and communicate with other students;
• The potential mentor’s knowledge of course content; and
• A good working relationship between instructor and potential mentor;

When discussing the position with potential mentors consider the following:

• Make clear what your expectations are for their role in the course.
• Consider both the possible mentor functions mentioned above as well as your specific needs.  
• Emphasize that some mentor training is required.  
• Please consider the importance of hiring people of groups underrepresented at Hamilton College, or in your particular discipline, into leadership positions (see below).

Request Approval

Once you have reached an agreement with a student to serve as your FYC Mentor, provide the information requested below to the ADOF for approval. Contact Associate Dean of Faculty, Penny Yee (pyee@hamilton.edu) with the following information:

• Your course information: name, number and term
• Name, class year, and SID# of your FYC Mentor, email address
• Estimated hours/week (The hourly pay rate is $14.50/hour beginning in Fall 2023)

The DOF office will compile a list of all mentors and share it with the Human Resources Office, who will handle all paperwork for the students. You will be responsible for approving the work hours on their timesheets in WebAdvisor. Here is information for how to approve timesheets. You will receive an automatic email when the submitted hours are waiting for your approval.

Some Sources on the Importance of Diverse Inclusion in Leadership

• Arvate, P. R., Galilea, G. W., & Todescat, I.  “The queen bee: A myth?  The effect of top-level female leadership on subordinate females.”  The Leadership Quarterly 29: 533-548, 2018.
• Carver-Thomas, Desiree.  Diversifying the Teaching Profession: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color.  Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute, 2018.
• Herring, C. “Is diversity still a good thing?”  American Sociological Review 82: 868-877, 2017.  
• Latu, I. O., Mast, M. S., Lammers, J., & Bombari, D.  “Successful female leaders empower women’s behaviors in leadership tasks.”  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 49: 444-448, 2013.
• Unzueta, M., and Knowles, E. D.  “The 'business case' for diversity may not by itself make the strongest case for diversity: What a profit-maximizing rationale for affirmative action ignores and why it matters.”  In K. M. Thomas, V. C. Plaut, & N. M. Tran, eds., Diversity Ideologies in Organizations (New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group: 2014).
• “While HBCUs are only three percent of four-year universities, their graduates make up approximately 80 percent of Black judges, half of Black lawyers and doctors, and 25 percent of Black undergraduates earning STEM degrees.” https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/
• https://www.diverseeducation.com/opinion/article/15109575/diversity-in-the-classroom-why-representation-matters
• https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/the-value-of-diversity-in-leadership-roles 
• https://www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch-columns/health/2015/its-hard-to-be-what-you-cant-see/
• https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace#