Who to Ask for Support

Create a Peer Mentoring Program

• See this study by Skaniakos et al. (2019), for positive impact of clear study guidance.

  → Skaniakos, T., Honkimäki, S., Kallio, E., Nissinen, K., & Tynjälä, P. (2018). Study guidance experiences, study progress, and perceived learning outcomes of Finnish university students. European Journal of Higher Education, 9(2), 203–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2018.1475247

• In this report by Andrews & Clark (2011), you can learn more about how to set up a peer mentoring programme and the benefits it offers.
  → Andrews, J., & Clark, R. (2011). Peer Mentoring Works! Aston University. Available at this page.
• You can also check out this study by Smith and Burton (2013) to learn more specifically about the impact of online peer mentoring on the transition.

  → Smith, H. and Burton, L. (2013). The impact of online peer mentoring on first year student transition, problem solving skills, and academic success. Proceedings of the 16th International First Year in Higher Education Conference (FYHE 2013). Wellington, New Zealand, Brisbane, Australia.

Use Premade Documents, FAQ Questions or Existing University Brochures

• This article by Tomuro & Lytinen, 2004 explores some ideas on how to use new techniques for creating FAQ documents.
  → Tomuro, N., & Lytinen, S.L. (2004). Retrieval Models and Q and A Learning with FAQ Files. In Maybury, M.T. (Ed.). New Directions in Question Answering. American Association of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). Available at this page.

Prepare a Template for Students to Ask for Support

• Learn more about the benefits of using automatic email reminders here.
• See this study by Schwebel et al, 2008 on the benefits of frequently reminding first-year students of their advising appointments.

  → Schwebel, D. C., Walburn, N. C., Jacobsen, S. H., Jerrolds, K. L., & Klyce, K. (2008). Efficacy of intrusively advising first-year students via frequent reminders for advising appointments. NACADA Journal, 28(2), 28–32. https://doi.org/10.12930/0271-9517-28.2.28

• See also this interesting study by Joyce & Weibelzahl (2011) on the benefits of frequent text message reminders for students with mental health issues to seek counseling.

  → Joyce, D., & Weibelzahl, S. (2011). Student counseling services: using text messaging to lower barriers to help seeking. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 48(3), 287–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2011.593705