P R I N T : News
Wednesday, November27,2013
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Students helping students succeed
Donny Beach
Associate Copy Editor
W h a t is it about asking a
teacher for help that strikes fear
into the hearts of some first-
year students? Is it the threat of
authority? The fear of looking
stupid for asking a question? Or
maybe it’s just the shyness that
comes from not knowing the
teacher well.
W hatever
the
reason,
Clackamas Community College
administrators are making strides
to show they understand the
uneasiness that some students
have in addressing faculty with
questions and asking for help.
To combat those fears, two
administrators created the peer
assistant/peer mentor program at
CCC in 2009. Four years later,
it’s still going strong.
The peer assistant/peer men
toring program provides a mid
dle ground for students seeking
answers by employing specially
trained students as assistants
in various departments around
campus. From advising to the
call center, counseling to finan
cial aid, the learning center to
the Welcome Center, over eight
departments house peer assis
tants.
Travis Swanson, a call center
peer assistant, said he is proud
to be a part of the mentoring
team. It does great things, said
Swanson, who is in his first term
as a peer assistant.
“I think it’s a real positive
middle ground,” Swanson said.
“I like the fact that the informa
tion comes from fellow students,
someone who has gone through
the same process themselves.”
This frontline approach to
ease students into the college
environment started with only
seven assistants in 2009. But the
program has over the last four
years grown and now includes 31
peer assistants and peer mentors.
The current coordinator, Mat
Genuser, works alongside an
advisory steering committee to
guide the program and make it a
helpful organization on campus.
Peer assistants have helped facil
itate college events like the New
Student Experience, job fairs and
campus tours for high school
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Cougar call center representative Garnetta Crabtree, a CCC student, fields calls from peers. The call center answers many incoming calls for Clackamas
at 503-^94-6100.
students from around the district.
Many four-year schools have
been doing peer assistant pro
grams for years. Portland State
University, in addition to having
a robust peer program, houses
the Center for Interdisciplinary
Mentoring Research. The center
“exists to advance the field of
mentoring, nationally and inter
nationally, through innovative
and rigorous research, educa
tion and knowledge sharing, and
partnerships with organizations
providing services,” according to
PSU’s website.
Melissa Pirie, CCC’s director
o f student and academ ic su p
port, helped expand the PSU
peer-mentor program and has big
plans for the fixture of CCC’s
program.
Pirie, along with other fac
ulty members, conducts train
ing classes for prospective peer
assistant/peer mentor applicants.
Classes are centered on handling
the myriad concerns that can
arise from having a diverse pop
ulation of students like CCC’s,
which includes high school stu
dents, displaced workers, baby
boomers, millennials, students
learning English as a second lan
guage and veterans.
While there is no designated
budget for the program, sever
al areas pitch in as needed for
things like trainings and sup
plies, according to Tara Sprehe,
one of the program’s creators.
And there are perks for students,
she added.
“Tuition waivers are offered
to the students in return for their
service as a peer assistant,”
Sprehe stated via email.
But how does one get
involved in this support pro
gram? Qualified students should
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apply. Spots open up once a year,
and as needed. (See box below
for more details.)
The application deadline for
the 2014-15 school year is the
end o f February.
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Applying to be a peer mentor
To qualify, you must:
.
•Have completed 12 credits at CCC, or have completed 12
credits bj the end «1 the current term.
;
•Have a minimum 255 cumulative GPA
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x
•B e in good academic standing
,
•Enrolled in at least 12 credits each term you serve as a mentor
•Have familiarity navigating CCC and related websites, prq-
cesses,etc.
•Applicants interested in serving as a peer mentor must have
received an “Â’' in WR 121 Preference m il be shown to stu
dents receiving an “ A” or “B” in either WR 122 or WR 227.
•To receive a full-time tuition waiver (12 credits), you must
complete 12 scheduled hours of service which includes one
weekly meeting of one hour. Three additional hours of service
(per week) must be completed at > mu discretion lor a total of
33 hours m a term
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Hours ~
How to Meet Hours
Scheduled hours
Weekly meeting
Campus/community service
T ~
T ~
Total hours per term
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Clackamas CC
Oregon City Campus hours (main store)
December 9 -1 3 , 2013
Mon,- Wed.» 7:45 am - 5:00 pm
Thurs., 7:45 am * 5:30 pm - FrL, 8:30 am - I ’M pm
C o m m u n ity C e n te r h o u rs
Mon. - Wed., 9:00 am 1 3:00 pm
H a rm o n y C am p us h o u rs
lio n . - Wed., 9;30 am - 1:30 pm, 2:30 pfft 5:30 pm
Thure. & Frl., 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
CCC IO R e q u ire d ! H