Mentoring at Sydney Uni

Just imagine having an older brother or sister at University who could show you the ropes, introduce you to the best places to hang out and let you know about the support systems for new students.

Big Brother is helping you

The University of Sydney prides itself on making first-year students feel welcome. Two of its largest faculties – Economics and Business, and Arts – operate highly successful mentoring programs for commencing students, another faculty, Science, hosts a transition workshop, and all faculties participate in the University’s ever-expanding First Year Experience Program.
All these services are aimed at easing the transition from school to Uni.

This year about one-third of first-year students in the Faculty of Arts were assigned to student mentors. Care is taken to match commencing students to mentors who are enrolled in later years in the same degree and, where possible, studying the same subjects.
Students from both sides of the process are enthusiastic about the program, according to the Director of First Year Teaching and Learning for the faculty, Dr Nerida Jarkey.

Dr Jarkey said many first-year students had told her how much they appreciated having an older peer provide guidance, handy hints about the campus, and “information about the faculty that isn’t in the handbook”.
Third-year arts student Anelie Walsh signed on as a mentor this year on the recommendation of a friend who took part in the program in 2003.

“It’s been great fun,” she said. “One of the main things has been being able to reassure some of the new students that the Uni can be flexible if they run into trouble with deadlines and assignments.”
Across campus, the Faculty of Economics and Business Peer Mentoring Program organiser, Jill Kelton, has already begun recruiting mentors for next year’s first-year students.
“The pilot scheme we organised for Semester Two 2004 has been so popular we are already receiving requests from students who want to act as mentors in 2005,” she said.
“We’re inviting prospective first-year students to register online if they are interested in being assigned a mentor.”
Ms Kelton said the Economics and Business first-year mentoring program, which will feature about 40 mentors in 2005, was based on a mentoring scheme introduced for postgraduate students earlier this year.
“The postgraduate mentoring program has been really popular. There’s nothing quite as valuable as being able to ask an older student what’s what.”