ALS 4400

Leadership through Peer Mentoring

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2020-2021.

This course will prepare and support students who are peer mentors for first years students in CALS. Skill development will include: empathetic listening and responding to student concerns; helping students identify needs and find resources for those needs; role modeling good study and time management skills; setting goals and career paths; communicating effectively with faculty and other adults; reflecting and articulating goals and experiences. Students will mentor 4-6 first year students outside of class with personal meetings, office hours and by organizing events. Each week, students will discuss a topic in the classroom, then organize resources or an event around the topic of the week. They will write reflections in class about the previous week.

When Offered Fall.

• Identify the academic resources that each mentee needs and find the appropriate campus resources to provide mentees with accurate information regarding those needs.
• Identify what co-curricular activities most interest their mentee(s) and find non-academic campus resources to help mentees navigating campus life, social activities/clubs and other aspects of life at Cornell.
• Acknowledge the importance of social belonging and the impact of imposter syndrome, and work to create a climate of community.
• Recognize signs of concern and confer with support leads to steer first-year students to necessary support as needed.
• Model positive mentoring behaviors, including compassion, responsiveness, sensitivity to concerns, and confidentiality.
• Demonstrate active listening techniques and comfortably cultivate conversations with fellow students with different backgrounds.
• Model and help mentees identify good study habits, including how to engage with others in group settings to foster learning.

View Enrollment Information