Seeking academics for virtual mentoring

Interested in helping new students before they arrive? The First-Year Experience (FYE) program is seeking academics to help establish virtual summer mentoring as part of our program to support the transition of new students at ANU.

FYE is aimed at supporting non-traditional undergraduate domestic students, including those from rural and remote locations, low-income backgrounds, who are first-in-family to attend University, or who are looking to rebuild community and a strong support network at ANU. FYE is a strengths-based program that aims to create connections, a sense of community, foster independence and resilience and build a community to support first-year retention and overall student experience through activities and events that support personal, professional and academic development and social engagement for the students involved.

Why academics?
We know from our current students and research that spending time in conversation with an academic can have a significant impact on a student’s comfort when arriving at University, helps them feel more comfortable in the classroom and encourages help seeking behaviours. The aim of the summer mentoring is to provide new students the opportunity to speak with an academic and current students to alleviate some of the concerns about starting at University and encourage them to engage with other academics, especially when they have questions or encounter an uncertain situation.

The commitment from you?
Academics who participate in the summer mentoring will be provided with training on the program and the intended outcomes of the mentoring as well as a current student leader to work with. Mentoring will be done as small group sessions through January and February to lead discussions on key topics, share information and answer questions from this new student cohort. Sessions are expected to run for 1 hour per week and end with an in-person activity during Orientation Week.

Your participation and feedback in this initiative is vital to help prepare these students for success at ANU and connect with the University. We hope you consider participating!

October 2020

To register, and for any questions, please email Sarah