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The initiative addresses challenges linked to large class sizes, reduced personalised attention, and transitional stress, drawing on survey evidence of student anxiety and perceived unmet academic goals. The essay explains program motivations, design choices for a collaborative science-focused community, and early evidence of success and lessons learned during initial implementation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mysci-advisors-establishing-a-peer-mentoring-program-for-first-year-science-student-support/598730/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mysci-advisors-establishing-a-peer-mentoring-program-for-first-year-science-student-support/598730.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"awa","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem does the MySci Advisors program target?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The program targets transitional difficulties in first-year science courses, including anxiety, reduced personalised attention due to larger class sizes, and challenges in feeling integrated and achieving early academic goals.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why was peer mentoring chosen over other approaches?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The program focuses on peer mentoring to support both social and academic adjustment while creating a collaborative sense of community in a Science faculty context that can feel competitive.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What survey evidence helped motivate starting the program?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"A 2011 survey of science students (n=235) showed that roughly 70% reported moderate to high anxiety when entering first year, and many felt they did not achieve their academic goals; around 25% rated a mentoring program highly as potentially helpful.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},598730,1792087473,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":52,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":143},3985747858093,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","MySci Advisors: Establishing a Peer-   \nMentoring Program for First Year 20c1ewl5t.CuwEwwLiTnsllr.V.ccaaIII  \nScience Student Support   \nKirsten Poling  \nUniversity of Windsor  \nWould you like to help your students adjust to university life? Perhaps you are simply interested in allowing them to feel more integrated into a department rightfrom the start of their first year? These were the types of issues that we were hoping to address when we founded the MySci Advisors Program, a peer-mentoring group for first year students in the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor. This program is run entirely on a volunteer basis with no working budget, so if you were considering starting a mentoring program but have been concerned about the cost of doing so, this essay may be of particular interest to you. MySci Advisors is only in its third year currently, so this essay is meant to focus on the lessons we have learned in the early establishment of the program. I outline some of the practices we have adoptedfor the program, some of the changes we have had to make along the way and provide some early evidence of success. It is my hope that others may be motivated to also form such a program or use this information to assist in their own early endeavours.  \nAs acadmoreelimmiiepdr,essuunirevserrsiieiebsuht reavesouexprceerisebecnceodmaen increase in class size and a corresponding decrease in the amount of personalised attention that students may receive, particularly in first year classes. In order to improve student success in these large courses, and to help improve student retention rates, many institutions are searching for ways to help students adjust to and thrive in the university environment. Students experience many different types of pressures when entering university and alleviating these pressures is an important part of ensuring that they persist in their education (Tinto, 1993) . One possible avenue for enhancing both retention and success of students is the establishment of mentoring programs, as they have been shown to facilitate a successful social and academic transition to university (Heirdsfield,  \nWalker, & Walsh, 2005) and reduce stress amongst students (Mekdessi, Curran, Lam, Grech, & Nguyen, 2013) .  \nBecause transitioning to university often involves more than just a change in academic skills, we wanted to establish a mentoring program that would take more of a holistic approach and encompass many different facets of the adjustment to university life, from academic and study skills to social and career support. While there are many models for mentoring programs (Crisp & Cruz, 2009; Gershenfeld, 2014; Jacobi, 1991), we chose to focus on transforming the learning experience by fostering a positive collaborative environment based on student peer mentoring in the Faculty of Science. Science programs often involve large firstyear classes with little sense of community. Furthermore, as a large number of science students  \nvie for a limited number of spots in professional schools, there can be a heavy focus on competition. Thus, focusing our efforts on peer-mentoring in this Faculty would allow us to develop a program specific to Science needs while fostering a more community-minded approach in an inherently competitive environment.  \nWhy did we establish the MySci Advisors program?  \nA major impetus for starting a mentoring program in the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor was a survey conducted as part of a separate study, asking about the pressures that students faced in their transitional first year. During the Fall semester of 2011, students from science  \ncourses in various years of their programs were surveyed and asked to rate aspects of their academic experiences and attitudes, using a 5 point Likert scale. Out of 235 students, approximately 70% reported having moderate to high anxiety levels when entering first year courses and many reported that they did not feel that they had achieved thei","cbCaifYO3aULRktc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifYO3aULRktc","pdf",191610,"English","# Background and rationale\n## Student transition pressures and retention needs\n## Mentoring programs and supporting evidence\n# Program design and goals\n## Holistic approach for academic, social, and career support\n## Peer mentoring within Science community context\n# Establishing the MySci Advisors program\n## Survey findings and student demand\n## Planning timeline and implementation","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the MySci Advisors program target?\",\"answer\":\"The program targets transitional difficulties in first-year science courses, including anxiety, reduced personalised attention due to larger class sizes, and challenges in feeling integrated and achieving early academic goals.\"},{\"question\":\"Why was peer mentoring chosen over other approaches?\",\"answer\":\"The program focuses on peer mentoring to support both social and academic adjustment while creating a collaborative sense of community in a Science faculty context that can feel competitive.\"},{\"question\":\"What survey evidence helped motivate starting the program?\",\"answer\":\"A 2011 survey of science students (n=235) showed that roughly 70% reported moderate to high anxiety when entering first year, and many felt they did not achieve their academic goals; around 25% rated a mentoring program highly as potentially helpful.\"}]","MySci Advisors - Establishing a Peer Mentoring Program for First Year Science Student Support | PDF",25]