Community Mentors are a valuable community resource, who can help to share information and advice about their college experience, to help prospective students build their awareness of college courses, how to apply, and the benefits of a college education.
Academic integration/belonging, Financial needs, Personal mental health/well-being, Social integration/belongingTraining | Mentoring | Off campus | Online & in person (hybrid) | In person
Time lineWhat is the main idea or gist?
What does this initiative/support/project look like?
Community Mentoring is an initiative under the Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) dedicated fund led by Trinity College Dublin but with input from all HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) forming PATH Leinster Pillar I Cluster (National College of Art & Design, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology, Marino Institute of Education, Royal College of Surgeons and University College Dublin). Community Mentoring aims to extend the existing mentoring programmes within the cluster HEIs, and through an inter-institutional and cross-community approach, harness the power of access students and graduates to support the development of bridging capital. People can learn how to take part in the programme by accessing our free online training modules and resources at the bottom of this page. Community Mentors, drawn from target groups which are traditionally underrepresented at third level education, deliver 3 sessions to mentees in schools, further education and training colleges and community groups. Mentors share information and advice about their college experience to support and inspire young people and adult learners to consider further and higher education.
What are the goals?
While Community Mentoring will increase mentees’ confidence in relation to higher education, Community Mentoring ultimately, at the highest-level, aims to improve the levels of diversity in higher education and increase equity of access for all communities in Dublin.
How are students involved?
Community Mentors are drawn from the following under-represented groups at third-level:
There are different types of educational institutions involved in Community Mentoring.
What the success criteria and the points of attention?
Help in raising awareness around the programme by organizations hosting the resources/modules on their sites so they can be accessed more widely and organizations and individuals can tailor the content to suit their own needs.
What makes the initiative successful is the connection between mentors and host organizations, often mentors return to their own communities so mentees relate to the students’ experience. The informal nature of the sessions seems to allow students to ask questions without fear of being judged. The resources/training are also a strong element of what makes the programme work so well as they are easily accessible and flexible to suit different learner needs.
(How) does the effectiveness get tracked?
We ask mentors and mentees to complete feedback forms following on from each session. Our mentee feedback allows us to see if the sessions are making students more confident in attending college. The mentor feedback allows us to see if we can better structure the next session to increase mentee engagement.
strongly agree
(How) is this initiative/support/project evaluated?
Yes.
Yearly reports to the funder HEA (Higher Education Authority) require continuous evaluation.
The evaluation process in place for Community Mentoring uses a number of survey instruments which capture the perspectives of Community Mentors, mentees and the contact person in each participating host institution. QR codes and weblinks are printed in all resources which remind participants to fill out an online evaluation survey after each mentoring session. This is complemented by email reminders to mentors and host organizations.
The main learning from the evaluation of the Community Mentoring programme has been the value placed, by all stakeholders, on the importance of sharing stories. Mentoring relies on personal relationships, and it is clear that mentors, mentees and host organizations value most when mentors have a direct link to the organizations. The importance of flexibility in the programme, in terms of when sessions take place, has also been an important learning which was incorporated through the online modules recently launched.
How is it communicated and advertised?
We communicate the programme through internal communication channels as well as publicizing it on website and social media channels. We also speak about it at university information sessions/events.
Students find out about the initiative through email, social media and at presentations typically given during orientation. Information is also available online on the HEI website.
We can target specific groups such as mature students, FET students, students with disabilities and Access ambassadors by reaching out to programme leads in each area.
What is the current and ideal timing and duration?
During the academic year.
During regular ‘school’ hours.
What resources are needed to run this initiative?
Staff are helpful to be a point of contact between host organizations and mentors. Staff can be responsible for administration of programme as well as supporting mentors and asking questions they may have following on from online training.
Funding to print resources so we can send them to schools and organizations so mentees can actively get involved in both online and in person sessions.
Support from organizations to host and promote the online modules on their websites so more people are aware of the programme.
Community Mentoring resources are free to any educational organization to download and are presented in alternative formats for accessibility.
For further information on Community Mentoring, please visit: collegeaware.ie/community-mentors
Becoming a Community Mentor online module: https://collegeaware.ie/mentoring/Web%20Publish/Becoming%20a%20Community%20Mentor/story.html
Setting up a Community Mentoring Programme online module: https://collegeaware.ie/educator/Web%20Publish/Setting%20Up%20a%20Community%20Mentoring%20Programme/story.html
Become a host institution handbook: https://collegeaware.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CM-Host-Pitch-2022.pdf
The Community Adult Education handbook: https://collegeaware.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Adult-Community-Ed-Mentor-Book-CM.pdf
Community Mentor Handbook: https://collegeaware.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Community-Mentoring-Handbook.pdf
Mentee Toolkit: https://collegeaware.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Mentee-Toolkit-CM.pdf
Universal design: Yes
Community Mentoring is focused on sustainability, producing and disseminating valuable resources. The most recent ones are 2 online mentoring modules that have been launched this Autumn and proved very useful in recruiting mentors.
Educators complete one and their school/organization is added to a central list of places to volunteer for mentors. Mentors also complete the Mentors module as part of their training.
Schools who have already established the programme in their schools have requested numerous mentee handbooks which is a positive showing the programme is being sustained and continued in the schools.
We attended the “Mentoring for Access, Retention and Student Success: A review of practice in the West-North West Cluster of HEIs” webinar and got insights and best practices from West-North West Cluster of HEIs. One of the key findings shared was that “Mentoring does not happen in a vacuum. While mentoring is intended to improve access, retention and student success at an individual level, collaboration with partners in other sectors is key to meaningful social change needed for widening participation in higher education”. This was a good take away and can inform ways in which the Community Mentoring programme can support existing programmes in organizations and supports our aim to integrate community mentoring into existing PATH/HEA activities and priorities.