Connections Peer Mentor

Application deadline

September 30, 2025 11:59 PM

Posted date

September 11, 2025

Seasonal role

Estimated salary

$12.00 Per hour

Connections Peer Mentor | USU 1010 University Connections

 Job Description  

The University Connections course is a key part of the USU retention plan. Peer mentors help set the tone of the course and lend support to the faculty, and particularly lend assistance in meeting the Big Question 3 objectives in the following ways: 

• What opportunities are there for me to have fun, develop a sense of belonging and engage in the university community? Faculty mentors should take the lead in helping the students develop a sense of academic belonging, while peer mentors should take the lead in helping the students develop social belonging and understand the social and involvement structure of USU. 
• How does the Connections mentoring experience teach me how to build relationships with mentors and peers at the university and beyond? Faculty mentors should take the lead on helping students develop relationships with academic mentors (advisors, faculty, etc.), while peer mentors should take the lead on helping students learn how to build relationships with peers. Peers include everyone from classmates and roommates to tablemates at lunch. 
• What are the shared values of the USU community? What is my role in enacting these values? Faculty mentors have primary responsibility for debriefing workshops and discussing the shared values of the USU community, but peer mentors can lend valuable credibility and insight to these discussions. 

Responsibilities

Peer mentors focus on building relationships with their students, and helping their instructor create an environment of trust. It is important to have an affirming and open environment so students are willing to have conversations about what they are experiencing in their transition to college.

• Peer mentors play an important role in helping students know HOW to engage with their peers and feel confident in reaching out to build relationships. They are not necessarily there to be a forever friend, but to be a first friend and help broker students toward a mindset of belonging, and to find their own sense of connection with their peers and the university.
•  Get to know them and understand their interests. 
• Where appropriate, share your own experiences and vulnerabilities. 
• Help students understand that they are not alone in their experiences. 
• Use icebreaking activities to help students open up at the beginning of class, and be observant during these activities and class breaks. 
• Guide and broker students to appropriate resources and opportunities. Brokering is more than referring a student. For example, rather than telling them they should look into the film club, show them how to search for it on the clubs webpage, and then encourage them to complete the interest form right there with you.
• Watch for opportunities to broker students toward appropriate resources and advocacy within the Inclusion Center.  
• Help students understand how USU works from the social perspective. Be a first friend, but broker them so they eventually find their own fit, friends, and connections. Help them break the ice and take the first steps toward finding their people, and identify who those people are.
• During the semester, lend an empathetic ear as they discuss their apprehensions, guide students toward campus resources. Encourage students to view their challenges in terms of becoming a learner.

Maintaining a Connection after the Course

Peer mentors maintain contact with their students during the first semester:  

Connections Meet-Ups 

The Connections Peer Mentor will create groups of no more than 7 students within their class. They will meet with each of these groups every week during the first seven weeks of the semester. These meetings will facilitate further connections between class members. The peer mentor will facilitate the discussion topics. 

Weekly Class Emails  

Each Connections mentor will send a weekly email to their Connections students each Monday of fall semester. The mentor will receive a template from the Connections office each Monday, and will personalize the template before forwarding it to their class and instructor. It is recommended that Connections mentors block out time in their schedule each Monday morning to send the email. 

Individual Check-Ins during First and Second Seven Weeks 

Connections Peer Mentors check in with the students who aren’t engaging in the Connections meet-ups during the first semester, and check in again during the second half of the semester. These can be via individualized emails or in-person meetings. 

Qualifications

Connections Peer Mentors are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA at all times. This will be verified at the end of spring semester and those falling below 3.0 will be dismissed.

Connections Peer Mentors must be available to completely commit to the following MANDATORY dates:

On-Campus ACA Variable Hours.

US Work Authorization is required.