Peer Mentoring Guide

Being a peer mentor has a lot of responsibility that isn’t always realized when accepting the role. Your mentee may expect you to be an expert and have all the answers. You may have trouble scheduling meetings or choosing topics to discuss. The UHP recommends keeping notes of your mentoring meetings for reflection at the end of your relationship. This is beneficial for both mentors and mentees to see growth and change over time. As you get into peer mentoring roles, you should build trust and rapport with one another. This includes sharing your own experiences, being attentive to one another through active listening and empathy, and finally respecting each other’s boundaries, confidentiality, and time.

• Communication and leadership skill development
  • Model initiative, accountability, and goal-setting
  • Practice conflict management and building rapport
  • Practice offering feedback
  • Adapt your communication style to new people and situations
  • Engage in collaborative problem solving and critical thinking
  • Improve skills in active listening, asking good questions, and explaining ideas clearly
• Gain confidence and self-awareness in your skills and leadership approach
• Support and guide fellow students while receiving training and direction from faculty/staff/community
• Develop a leadership philosophy
• Career preparation
  • Gain examples to discuss in interviews related to leadership, teamwork, problem solving, and working towards a common goal
  • Gain experience documenting goals, progress, and follow-up
  • Demonstrate mentoring experience
  • Strengthen planning skills by balancing mentorship role with academic and co-curricular commitments
  • Build skills transferable to a wide range of roles and environments
  • Relationships with professional staff can lead to strong recommendations or references
• Through reflection, share your unique story and skills
  • Consider: “What unique skills and experience do I have to share?”

Time: how much time is expected and how much do you want to put in?

Goals: what are your goals, the goals of the program? Do they align? Are you using the SMART format?

Personal growth: what will you gain by being a mentor? What are you hoping your mentee will gain?

Support: what kind of support do you have in this role from a coordinator or mentor? If your peer mentor relationship is structured through an existing program, make sure you know who the staff/faculty contact is in case of issues or concerns with your mentee.

Boundaries: have you mapped out when you might need to refer mentees to professional support, and how you can balance approachability with professional boundaries?

Structure: what meeting schedule is reasonable for both of you? How will you document goals, progress, and follow-up?

If you are seeking mentoring for a self-designed experience, please see our self-designed experience guide for additional recommendations.

Time: remember that this is a valuable investment of your time, and be respectful of the time your mentor is giving you.

Goals: what are your goals, and the goals of the program? Do they align? Is your mentor modeling the SMART format?

Personal gain: what are you learning from this relationship? How is this relationship mutually beneficial?

Support: make sure you can approach the ask for mentorship so that your prospective mentor understands that it’s voluntary. If your peer mentor relationship is structured through an existing program, make sure you know who the staff/faculty contact is in case of issues or concerns with your mentor.

Boundaries: be aware that your mentor is also a student, and has commitments beyond/in addition to your mentor/mentee relationship.

Structure: set clear intentions of what you want out of the relationship and pre-determine your structure based on your needs. Set expectations, discuss goals, and establish communication preferences during initial meeting. Schedule biweekly or monthly meetings (virtual or in-person). Keep brief notes on goals, progress, and follow-ups.

• What am I getting out of this relationship? What benefits and challenges am I experiencing?
• What questions do I have related to my experience to bring to the 1-1 meetings
• Am I setting clear boundaries and expectations for myself and my mentor/mentee
• How am I progressing in my goals in my role as mentor/mentee? Am I getting feedback from my mentor/mentee on progress towards goals? 
• How does this role connect to other parts of my personal and professional interests/experiences?