DEVELOPING PEER EDUCATORS
First-Year Seminar Fellows Handbook | Training, Leadership Development & Program Communications
As Director of First-Year Experience at York College of Pennsylvania, I developed the First-Year Seminar Fellows Program, which employed experienced students as peer mentors in First-Year Seminar courses. Fellows occupied an unusual position: they were students and employees, classroom partners to faculty, mentors to new students, and developing campus leaders. The handbook helped them understand those overlapping roles and translate them into practice.
By 2023, the handbook had grown into a working guide for a mature peer-education program. It combined program procedures with practical guidance on professional communication, faculty-Fellow partnerships, supporting first-year students, appropriate boundaries, interactive mini-lessons, student engagement, and when to seek help. It also documented a scaffolded leadership structure in which experienced Leading and Master Fellows mentored newer Fellows, led mentor-development “Studio Groups,” helped train and select participants, and assumed increasing responsibility within the program.
The handbook was one part of a larger developmental system. New and returning Fellows participated in spring training and an August Rev-Up; new Fellows attended early-semester check-ins; optional practice sessions allowed Fellows to rehearse mini-lessons and receive feedback. Peer-led mentor-development “Studio Groups” gave Fellows a regular place to compare experiences, troubleshoot challenges, and learn from one another. The handbook reinforced that training throughout the year by giving students a practical reference they could return to when situations became complicated.
The writing goal was to provide concrete guidance about what effective mentoring looked like, including how to work with different faculty members, how to engage reluctant students, where their authority ended, and what to do when something went wrong. It became part of a holistic approach to help Fellows develop the judgment, confidence, and professional habits to become effective peer educators.
Selected handbook sections
• The Fellow’s role — Defining peer mentoring through concrete responsibilities, habits, and expectations
• Faculty-Fellow partnerships — Clarifying a developmental partnership while protecting the student employee’s role
• Professional communication and boundaries — Giving student employees usable guidance for difficult or sensitive situations
• Mini-lessons — Teaching novice presenters to design, rehearse, and lead brief interactive learning experiences
• Peer leadership — Using Leading and Master Fellows and mentor-development “Studio Groups” to build a scaffolded system of mentoring and support
