Apply to be a Mentor for our new PSY & CD majors!
Hello PSY/CD students! We hope you are having a nice summer!

We are excited to announce that we are again looking for highly motivated and helping-oriented students to be mentors for our new PSY/CD majors during Fall 2021. This will be facilitated through the required Orientation Course (PSY/CD 102: Orientation to the Psychology/Child Development Major), which will be co-taught synchronously on Zoom by Dr. Bennion (PSY) and Dr. Lee (CD) from 10:10-noon on Fridays, with mentors (you!) co-leading discussion sections. Following class, there will be a mentor meeting with Drs. Bennion & Lee from 12-1 on Fridays.

Students in PSY/CD 102 will be put into teams of ~10-12, and each team will have two upperclassmen mentors (you!). We would particularly like to encourage underrepresented students (broadly defined) to apply. Also, please note that in addition to first-year students, we will have many internal transfers and transfer students, so we would especially like mentors who transferred either into the major and/or Cal Poly to apply. If you were a Peer Mentor last year, you are eligible to apply again for Fall 2021. New this year, you are also able to list the name of a potential co-mentor (though, note that you will be evaluated individually and whether you are matched with your co-mentor is not guaranteed).

What would I be doing? You would spend ~6 hours every week:

• Attending class (you will need to be available from 10-1 pm every Friday; 10:10-noon is class and 12:10-1 pm is the mentor meeting with Drs. Bennion & Lee to recap & prepare for the following week)
• Planning and leading virtual AND face-to-face events (at least 3x/quarter) - Note this means you will need to reside in the SLO area
• Keeping up with course content (e.g., watching videos, viewing slides, reading assigned readings) to be able to answer questions
• Reading bi-weekly discussion posts and giving meaningful feedback and suggestions to every student in your team
• Holding office hours
• Checking in regularly with each student in your team (about every other week)
• Keeping up with a team message thread (e.g., GroupMe)
• Communicating with Dr. Bennion & Dr. Lee about any questions, concerns, comments, or general themes that come up in your team discussions, office hours, events, emails, message thread, etc.

What are you looking for in a mentor? If these bullets generally describe you (we are not expecting these to fit anyone perfectly!), please consider applying:

• Highly motivated
• Involved in the major (e.g., doing research with faculty, frequently visit office hours, know faculty well, members of Psi Chi, Psychology Club, or PCDC)
• Passionate, knowledgeable, and willing to learn about issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (e.g., part of the CLA Underrepresented Students Network, BEACoN Mentoring Network)
• Skilled in giving advice and constructive criticism in a respectful way
• Skilled at working in a team
• Highly achieving
• Strong time management, organizational, & study skills
• Strong work/life balance
• Knowledgeable of (and/or willing to learn about) campus resources
• Interested in helping our new majors find their place in the major and at Cal Poly
• Interested in building community within the major
• No question about the ability to devote 6 hours a week to mentoring

You would be able to enroll in PSY/CD 401 (Special Problems: Experiential Learning) for 2 units (CR/NC) if you would like this to appear on your transcript (2 units = 6 hours per week). Note that you can use this toward fulfilling an upper-division elective, but you would need to make sure you still satisfy the required total units of upper-division electives.

Besides being able to put this on your resume, any successful mentoring relationship has bidirectional benefits. We are certain you would gain a great deal from learning more about the disciplines of Psychology and Child Development, becoming more familiar with departmental and campus resources, improving your communication and teamwork skills, and learning more about how university courses are taught. You also would be dedicating your time to the important cause of making our department more community-oriented and welcoming for our new majors (in a time when this couldn’t be more important)!

If you are interested, we encourage you to fill out this Google form at your earliest convenience but no later than Friday, August 20th. We expect to have all pairings solidified by the beginning of September so that we can do a full meeting as a group on Zoom before classes start.

Thank you for considering, and please email Dr. Bennion (kbennion@calpoly.edu) with any questions!

Sign in to Google to save your progress. Learn more
Last name: *
Preferred first name: *
Pronouns: *
*Cal Poly* email address: *
Which year will you be *in FALL 2021*? *
What is your major? *
Which best describes how you joined the major? *
Required
Gender
Racial or ethnic identity (choose all that apply)
Will you be available weekly during Fall quarter on Fridays from 10 am-1 pm? *
Required
Will you be residing in the SLO area during fall quarter? Please note that leading occasional face-to-face events with your co-mentor and team is required, assuming that we can do this in a safe way.
Given that we expect a diverse group of new majors, we would prefer if at least some of our mentors have taken some upper-level diversity, equity, & inclusion-related classes. Which of the following have you taken or are enrolled in during fall? *
Required
Have you taken PSY 323 (The Helping Relationship)? *
Which of the following PSY/CD experiences have you or are you currently taking part in (officially enrolled in fall)?
Which of the following mentoring or helping experiences have you or are you currently taking part in?
Which of the following campus resources have you used and wouldn’t mind discussing (privately or otherwise) with our new majors?
How comfortable would you feel discussing each of the following with new PSY/CD majors?
Not comfortable
Not that comfortable
Somewhat comfortable
Comfortable
Very comfortable
Getting to know faculty
Going to office hours
Diversity, equity, & inclusion-related topics
Getting involved in PSY/CD-related clubs or committees
Getting involved in research with faculty
Finding relevant on- or off-campus jobs and/or internships
Giving advice on time management, organizational, or study strategies
Giving advice on work/life balance
Giving advice about campus resources
Brainstorming possible career paths
Clear selection
Importantly, why do you want to be a mentor for new majors in the PSY/CD Orientation course? (please be thorough!) *
Any other relevant experience you wish to elaborate on?
Optional: If selected as a peer mentor, please list the name(s) of fellow majors (and mentor applicants) you would be interested in working with as your co-mentor. Note that mentors are selected independently and this is not a guarantee, but we will take this into consideration.
Is there anything else you would like to add? Other comments, ideas, suggestions?
Reference: Please list the first & last name of a PSY or CD faculty member who you feel knows you and your skills well enough to recommend you to mentor a group of new majors. [Drs. Bennion & Lee will be contacting these faculty members, but they will not be asked to provide a letter] *
Submit
Clear form
Never submit passwords through Google Forms.
This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google. Report Abuse - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy
Google Forms