Peer mentors play a critical role in the program’s mission as they help and guide their fellow PES students. They work in close collaboration with the professional staff to support and facilitate student wellbeing and success. To their students, they are advocates, educators, role models, and friends.
There are two types of peer mentors: Emerge Summer STEM Peer Mentors and Academic Year Peer Mentors. Below is information about what each position entails.
What Benefits Does the Position Provide?
- Help students in meaningful ways
- Develop leadership, communication, and time management skills
- Engage with a team learning about and working towards racial equity, social justice, and positive social change
- Make an impact and leave a legacy at the University
- Form friendships that last a lifetime
Students participating in the Student Success Coaching program will be given priority consideration for these roles.
Compensation
Emerge Summer STEM Peer Mentors are paid $15/hour, including training and preparing for the program in June and July. They also receive room and board during the three-week Emerge Summer STEM Program.
Time Commitment
End of Year Student Leadership Luncheon
- Tuesday, April 30, 12-2 p.m.
Emerge Summer STEM Training and Preparation
- Monday, June 24-Thursday, June 27, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Monday, July 1-Wednesday, July 3, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Monday, July 8-Thursday, July 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Emerge Summer STEM Program
- Saturday, July 13-Saturday, August 3
Requirements
- Be enrolled as a full-time, undergraduate, PES student in the fall and spring
- Be available for all listed time commitments
- Be committed to racial & social justice and positive social change
- Have a strong desire to develop high-quality, personal relationships with other PES students and connect them with University of Minnesota resources
- Have a demonstrated ability to work well with diverse, historically minoritized student populations
- Exhibit strong communication, problem-solving, follow-through, responsibility, and resourcefulness
- Demonstrate patience, flexibility, organizational skills, and a willingness to learn
- Actively participate in all training, staff meetings, and programs
- Emerge Summer STEM Peer Mentors cannot enroll for classes or work another job taking place from June 24-August 3
Responsibilities
- Participate fully in the Emerge Summer STEM Peer Mentor training program
- Develop personal relationships and build community with incoming first-year students during the Emerge Summer STEM Program
- Collaborate with professional and student staff to execute all aspects of the Emerge Summer STEM Program
Compensation
Peer mentors are paid $15/hour and work, on average, 6-10 hours per week.
Time Commitment
End of Year Student Leadership Luncheon
- Tuesday, April 30, 12-2 p.m.
Fall Training
- Wednesday, August 14, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Thursday, August 15, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
- Friday, August 16, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
- Monday, August 19-Friday, August 23, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Weekly Staff Meetings
- Fridays, 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Fall Conference
- Thursday, September 19, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Requirements
- Be enrolled as a full-time, undergraduate, PES student in the fall and spring
- Be available to work 6-10 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters
- Be available for all listed time commitments
- Be committed to racial & social justice and positive social change
- Have a strong desire to develop high-quality, personal relationships with other PES students and connect them with University of Minnesota resources
- Have a demonstrated ability to work well with diverse, historically minoritized student populations
- Exhibit strong communication, problem-solving, follow-through, responsibility, and resourcefulness
- Demonstrate patience, flexibility, organizational skills, and a willingness to learn
- Actively participate in all training, staff meetings, and programs
- Commit to entire 2024-2025 academic year
- Preference given to candidates able to stay on for the 2025-2026 academic year
Additional Critical Elements
- Peer mentors are encouraged to participate in other non-academic commitments on campus and in the community. That said, the peer mentor position must be treated with high priority.
- A background check must be passed before starting the position.
- Ideal candidates are current first- and second-year PES students.
Responsibilities
- Meet regularly with assigned students throughout the academic year
- Submit well-written and timely contact notes after peer mentor meetings
- Assist with the implementation of the Fall Conference on Thursday, September 19
- Attend weekly staff meetings on Friday afternoons from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
- Assist with the facilitation of weekly Friday meetings
- Meet regularly with assigned lead peer mentor
- Attend and actively participate in all training sessions
- Participate meaningfully in racial and social justice education (e.g., class, disability, gender, religious/spiritual identity, sexuality)
- Serve as a role model and resource for all PES students
- Assist with implementation of PES events, such as the PES Open House, PES @ Homecoming, and the End of Year Celebration
Application Essay
Applicants must compose a short essay responding to one of the two following prompts:
Prompt 1 - Describe some of your primary strengths and how you'll use these as a peer mentor.
Prompt 2 - Describe some key ways you'll embrace and enact racial and social justice as a peer mentor.
"Social justice refers to reconstructing society in accordance with principles of equity, recognition, and inclusion. It involves eliminating the injustice created when differences are sorted and ranked in a hierarchy that unequally confers power, social and economic advantages, and institutional and cultural validity to social groups based on their location in that hierarchy (Adams, 2014; Johnson, 2005). Social justice requires confronting the ideological frameworks, historical legacies, and institutional patterns and practices that structure social relations unequally so that some groups are advantaged at the expense of other groups that are marginalized." -Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, 3rd Edition
Core to social justice, racial equity is "equal access and opportunity for all people, so all can reach their full potential and are no more likely to encounter barriers or benefits based on race or ethnicity." -Greater Milwaukee Foundation, 2015
The essay should be no longer than 1,000 words. Submitting an essay is required.
Get help with your application essay via student writing support in the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence (MCAE) or the Center for Writing.
Individual Interviews
Candidates moving forward in the selection process will be invited via U of M email to complete a 30-minute individual interview. Interviews will take place with a PES professional staff member.
Information on how to prepare for your interview can be found here. For example, you can schedule a practice interview with a career counselor in your college’s career services office.
Candidates will be notified of their final hiring status no later than Monday, March 11. Candidates may be hired, placed in an alternate pool, or removed from this year’s process.
Information Sessions
Want to learn more about the position, as well as the application process? Attend one of the following information sessions!
Students may show up late for these sessions or leave early as their schedules allow.
Tuesday, January 30, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
- Format: Online
- Location: z.umn.edu/PMInfo
Thursday, February 1, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
- Format: Online
- Location: z.umn.edu/PMInfo