University of Houston-Downtown
Houston, Texas
Title
UHD Scholars Academy Peer Mentor Groups and Well-Being for Performance and Growth
Synopsis
University of Houston-Downtown Scholars Academy, a STEM unit, first implemented peer mentors in 1999. What began as a single group with one peer mentor has evolved into 18 groups of discipline-based peer mentors and faculty mentors over the 25-year period. Peer and faculty mentors form the small learning communities each semester. This organizational infrastructure brings expert peers (faculty mentors), near peers (peer mentors), and peer-to-peer mentoring to the small groups to offer support, and information. The more skilled peer mentor encourages, counsels, and befriends the less skilled or less experienced mentee, thereby promoting increases in professional, personal, and career path development (Maha, 2021; Nabi, Walmsley, Mir, Osman, 2024). There is some evidence that peer support/mentoring can offer support to mental wellbeing through friendship, camaraderie, and shared current or past experiences (Cooper, Saunders, Greenburgh,et.al., 2024). However, positive mentor-mentee relationships are critical for balance and academic success.