Peer Advising Students Helping Students Find their Gateway

Peer Advising Students Helping Students Find their Gateway to Success Pat Caro, Director Cynthia Holguin, Assistant Director Academic Advising Center

OVERVIEW About UTEP and the AAC Job Description Hiring/Interviewing Training Benefits for the Center Benefits for Peer Advisors Goal Development Activity

UTEP – Who, What, Where? • Located on US/Mexico Border • Regional population 2. 2 million • Enrollment Fall 2017: 25, 078 • Student Demographics: • 54% Female • 46% Male • 87% El Paso County Residents • 80% Hispanic • Degrees Offered 72 Bachelors, 73 Masters, 20 Doctoral

Academic Advising Center (AAC) Primarily advise Freshmen and Sophomore students under the following majors: • General Studies (undeclared/undecided) • Liberal Arts up to 60 credit hours • Education up to 29 credit hours • Nursing up to 29 hours • Business - based on college level Math and English completion • Health Sciences up to 29 hours • PIE: Programa Interamericano Estudiantil • START • UTCAP • German Abitur TSI Advising: Texas Success Initiative • A state initiative to ensure college students are prepared for college level Math, Reading, and Writing courses • Students who place into developmental courses must meet with an advisor each semester until they complete all three areas

AAC Populations 5 colleges 23 Majors 5 Programs 0 -60 semester credit hours 5, 000 students per semester

Academic Advising Center (AAC) Management Team • Director • 2 Assistant Directors • 3 Coordinator/Managers Peer Advisors • 7 student advisors • TSI Advising • Freshmen Major Advising • Exceptions: PR/SU/START, Education, Abitur, UT-CAP Program Advisors • 10 Professional Advisors • TSI Advising • All Majors • PR/SU/START Front Desk • 5 student employees • Screen students and nonstudent visitors • Schedule appointments • Serve as referral source to other offices

Tell Us About You! Do you have student advisors? How many of you are from 4 year institutions? How many of you are from 2 year institutions? How many students does your advising unit serve? How many majors/programs do you advise toward? How many of you have already implemented peer advising in your center? Thanks for sharing!

Peer Advisor Job Description

Peer Advisor Job Description • Populations/SCH advised • Texas Success Initiative advising and registration • New Student Orientation • Caseload support • Cross training with other student personnel

Hiring Peer Advisors • Application, resume, interview process and expectations • Sophomore/Junior level preferred • 2. 5 GPA requirement above University student staff requirements • Hire within the department to transition from freshmen level positions to peer advising • Select from all majors • Customer service/campus background preferred

Interviewing Interview question samples

Interviewing Interview question samples

Training Peer Advisors • Learn all majors/programs • Technology component: • Electronic Advising Forms • Banner Student Information System • Degree Evaluation • TSI Developmental Advising and Registration • Role Reversal and Observation • Provide training and guidance to incoming student staff

Training Plan Orientation Phase Provide a detailed orientation to advisors regarding the expectations of the position and the various student populations served within the AAC Instruction Phase Provide specific instruction regarding key advising concepts, important history and partnerships, university policies and specific AAC processes Implementation Phase Provide instruction regarding the various resources and advising approaches required to ensure consistency and assessment of processes Continuous Development Phase Provide continuous professional development opportunities for advisors to develop skills and enhance services to students

Training Plan Sample

Training Plan Sample

Benefits for the Center • Peer to Peer interaction with students • Maximize peak advising availability • New Student and Transfer Student Orientation prep activities and advising support • Late registration assistance • Cross trained to cover front desk and scanning duties

Benefits for the Center 2015 -2016 Advising Data

Benefits for the Peer Advisors Professional Work Experience • Office policies and procedures • Interaction with supervisory staff • Interaction across campus • Customer service

Benefits for the Peer Advisors Exposure to Professional Work Environment • Communication skills • Phone, email, face to face • Teamwork/Team Building • Leadership among Peers and Professional Staff

Benefits for the Peer Advisors Develop Problem Solving/Critical Thinking Skills • Handling difficult situations • Upset customers/parents • Student issues and concerns • Troubleshooting advising issues

Goal Development Activity Identify your wish list If you had no limitations, (budget, staffing, training needs, etc. ) how would you like to implement or enhance a Peer Advising approach for your unit? List your top 3 wishes now

Questions to Explore • If your unit already has peer advisors, how can you maximize their impact for advisees? • Do you have any unmet staffing needs peer advisors may be able to fill? • If you don’t have peer advisors, what role can they play? • How can you justify peer advising needs for your unit? • What populations or programs can peer advisors serve? • What are the institutional policies regarding student staffing(work studies/hourly/grad students) to consider?

Questions/Comments? Contact us if you would like more information regarding Peer Advising processes at UTEP: Pat Caro – pcaro@utep. edu Cynthia Holguin – ceholguin@utep. edu