Mr Vinh Dang1, Ms Shawna Hooton1
1The University Of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
This paper showcases the efforts made by International Peer Mentors to engage the international cohort on campus and build community internally within their pods. Weekly morning teas for international students had been hosted by International Student Support (ISS) for several years. With one staff member in charge of all logistics and few Peer Mentors hosting, these events were valuable study breaks each week for a handful of students that came along, but held a high price tag on staffing resources. Staffing cuts and a restructure of ISS, however, meant morning teas had become unfeasible in their current state. Simultaneously, the University began to recognize that Orientation was an information overload for new students and Re-Orientation activities would be useful in providing information about services and support throughout the year. Thus was born the reinvigorated Friday morning tea series.
Co-presented by a Senior Peer Mentor and the Peer Mentor Coordinator, this paper provides a practical model for leveraging Peer Mentors’ innovation and willingness to lead initiatives. The new morning teas incorporate unique menu themes and strategic invitations to support area on campus to showcase their services to international students. While the Peer Mentor Coordinator maintains coaching and checklists for the Senior Peer Mentors, the morning teas are now completely planned, prepared and hosted by Mentors.
As a result of this student-led approach, attendance at morning teas doubled to approximately100 students each week, services and support across campus connected more intimately with international students, and Peer Mentors gained valuable leadership and event management skills.
Biography:
Vinh is currently working on an Honours degree in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering at the University of Adelaide. Arriving in Australia from Vietnam, Vinh quickly recognized the importance of building community on campus to maintain a positive balance to his studies. He joined the International Peer Mentor program in 2017 and has quickly risen through the leadership pipeline to become a Senior Peer Mentor and Language and Cultural Engagement Event Manager. He’s passionate about building a sense of belonging at his events and inspiring his teams to build on their strengths. You can find him Friday nights doing the Macarena at Spanish night or sampling poppadoms at Indian night.
Shawna coordinates the International Peer Mentor program at The University of Adelaide. She is passionate about empowering student to take ownership of the program and loves hearing her Mentors enthusiastically brainstorm ideas and generate new initiates. With a Master of Educational Leadership, Shawna continuously seeks growth opportunities and explores collaborations. Most recently this has resulted in a campus wide Peer Mentor Coordinators’ Steering Committee. Coming from the great white north of Canada, Shawna is still acclimatizing to Vegemite and Christmas in summer.