First Year Experience

Peer Educators recruitment is year-round with applications due in March for a Fall placement. Candidates apply via Submittable.

The Peer Educator Experience

Why be a PE?

1. Gain valuable co-teaching experience: As a peer educator, you have the opportunity to work closely with faculty and staff instructors to plan and deliver course content. This experience helps you develop important teaching and collaboration skills that will be valuable in future careers.
2. Develop leadership skills: You receive training and support to help develop leadership skills.
3. Mentor first-year students: You will serve as mentors and campus guides for incoming UM students.
4. Apply design thinking to academic, personal, and professional goals: You learn and apply design thinking principles to a variety of situations, which further develops your problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
5. Add unique experiences to resumes and increase post-graduation marketability: Participating in the peer educator program is a valuable addition to your resume. It demonstrates a commitment to leadership, mentorship, and collaboration. This experience also creates more competitive job candidates

Expectations

• Employ a design thinking mindset
• Support the design, planning, and delivery of instruction
• Prompt students’ in-class engagement and participation
• Facilitate design thinking activities in class with 20 students
• Communicate critical information, events, and timelines
• Coordinate cohort-building events and mentorship interactions outside of the classroom
• Model successful student behaviors
• Come prepared for class by reading in advance, bringing all required class materials, observe, generate productive discussion, and ask relevant questions
• Contribute to course by participating in all trainings, attending class, and engaging in reflective activities with instructors and other Peer Educators

Eligibility

• Undergraduate student
• Enrolled full-time (12 or more credits) for Autumn semester
• Sophomore status or higher (30 completed credits) at the start of Autumn semester
• One semester completed at UM (not including Summer)
• Good academic standing (cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher)

Compensation

• $200 stipend during Spring training
• $500 stipend during Fall semester
• Upper-division academic credits
• Opportunity to complete the Certified Peer Educator (CPE) digital badge and micro-credential

Time Commitment

Spring

• 4 hours/week max
  • 3-hour (COLS 394 course meeting times)
  • 1-hour homeworks

Fall

• 5 hours/week max
  • 1-hour 20-minute x2 (COLS 194 course meeting times)
  • 1-hour trainings in COLS 395.
  • 30-minute instructional team meeting and class prep (varies by teams)