Can I still be a Peer Mentor once I have graduated?

Peer Mentors must be full-time students at the University of Leicester, generally in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of their degree. We do accept Masters students and PhD students as Peer Mentors for the degree they completed in their undergraduate subject, providing they are campus-based students for the months of September-February for the academic year they wish to volunteer as Peer Mentor.

 

I am studying in the School of Medicine can I still be a Peer Mentor?

Unfortunately we cannot accept students from the School of Medicine as Mentors. They have opted to run their own bespoke family systems internally, and are therefore not included in the University-wide scheme.

 

Who are my Mentees?

All Mentors are notified who their Mentees are before the beginning of the scheme. If you are ever unsure, email peermentoring@le.ac.uk. 

 

Can I add my mentees on Facebook? Can they add me?

It is up to you and your mentee to give consent for sharing contact details. For example, if they add you on Facebook, it is at your discretion whether you wish to accept or not. We are happy for you to reach out to your mentees on social media, as messenger may be an easier method for quick communication. It would then be up to them whether or not to accept. Alternatively, we recommend that mentors use WhatsApp to contact their mentees, as less personal information is openly available across this platform.

 

What do I do if being a Peer Mentor was not what I expected?

If you are unsure whether you want to continue being a Mentor, get in touch with the team at peermentoring@le.ac.uk to discuss your concerns. We will try to help you to get the most out of the scheme, but ultimately it is possible to step down from the role of Peer Mentor.

 

Can I achieve Merit or Distinction straight away? 

The base level accreditation PM scheme lasts from September to January, and you can start working towards your Merit or Distinction as soon as you complete the Peer Mentor training. You can continue to gain points towards this all the way up to the end of the second term. You will be notified of the exact cut-off nearer the time.

How many volunteering hours can I log as a Peer Mentor?

This year, Peer Mentors can log their volunteering hours on the Students' Union Volunteering Portal. If you are completing the base level of Peer Mentoring, then you can log hours for your 4 core emails,  for attending one Peer Mentoring event and for completing initial Peer Mentoring training. If you send all 4 emails to every Mentee, then you can log 6 hours in total. You can also log 2 hours for your initial Peer Mentoring training. If you attend a Peer Mentoring event and notify a Lead Mentor or the Peer Mentoring Coordinator that you are in attendance, then you can log the hours for this, also if you volunteer at any smaller events with Lead Mentors in your department.

What should I do if I am struggling?

If you are having a tough time and it is impacting your studies at all, the first place you should go is to the Students' Union Advice Service and talk to an Advisor https://www.leicesterunion.com/support/adviceservice/getintouch/. If you feel that anything is going to impact your ability to complete your duties as a Peer Mentor, then please get in touch with the team to talk about how they can support you peermentoring@le.ac.uk. If you are having a tough time, the best thing you can do is to talk to someone at the SU or the University support services and you will be supported in a non-judgemental way. If you feel you might be in crisis, please contact Samaritans.

 

I have heard about Liberation Mentoring what is it?

 element of the Peer Mentoring scheme called 'Liberation Mentoring' is a feature of the scheme whereby we try our best to match you with Mentees that have told us they share the same identities as yourself.  You will be given the opportunity to supply this information when you complete your registration on Vantage, we will send you further details once you have completed your initial training.  There is no obligation for you to disclose any of these characteristics if you do not feel comfortable. Your academic department will be prioritised before the Liberation characteristics, so your Mentees will always be within your academic department.