By Michelle Vinall
What is the Mentoring Program?
CSU’s Mentoring program is a program run by students for students. Studying is not easy and can be stressful for many different reasons, and there are hurdles that can get in your way. We provide an interface through social media – Facebook – where new and continuing students can get support and encouragement to achieve all their goals. We can point you in the right direction by sharing our experience and the multitude of resources that CSU has on hand.
Mentors do not provide help for your course content (tutoring or other such services) but we can point you to the right part of CSU that can help with your needs.
Becoming a mentor and what’s involved
To become a mentor you need to be a student at CSU, preferably with average or above academic ability, with good communication skills. You can be recommended or apply for the position which is advertised throughout the year.
I have been a mentor for six months and have just finished my second year of my degree. My mentoring involves answering students’ questions, we regularly share posts and do not need to spend more than two to three hours a week on it.
Being a mentor is a great way to spend a few hours of your time it gives satisfaction to mentors to know that they have helped other students and we also learn from those students. It is a two-way program, we also get experience in volunteering, using social media – as if we need that! – communication skills but best of all we socialise with other students with similar interests, while helping each other to cope with all stresses of studying.
How to join a mentoring group to receive mentoring
All students are welcome to join as mentees and get assistance. You need to request to join the group for your course e.g. Computer Science or Social Work. To go about this, head to the Mentoring page in the Student Portal and see if there is a mentor group for your specific course. Then just click the course-specific link and you will be taken to the associated group on Facebook, where you can request to join.
About me and my mentoring experiences
I’m a mature-aged student and single mum of five, starting my third year as a Computer Science student. One of the highlights of my time as a student was when I become a student mentor. Helping students also helped me as a student; no students know all the ins and outs of being a student and it has helped me to discover resources that I may never have known existed without entering the program, I also think it has helped me develop skills I would not have developed otherwise.
Being a mentor is a satisfactory, enjoyable job. My advice if you think you have what it takes to be a mentor DO IT.
If not, join a group as a mentee. It can help, whether it’s a small thing or a large thing we can help, or point you towards someone who can!
CSU is currently looking for mentors for 2018. If you have a couple of hours a week to spare and would like to help other students get the most out of their time at CSU, email Ray Pickard for more information.
