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Equity and Student Support:
A Peer Mentoring Program
at the University of South Australia
Mary Hill and Terry Davenport
Abstract
In the context of diminishing resources involving staff cuts and budget restrictions, all universities are faced with
increasing demands upon their support services. DEETYA requires universities to report upon progress made toward
improved access and success of identified equity target groups and this inevitably leads to an increase in the number of
students entering university who require significant support if they are to be successful. Support Services are already
stretched to the limit so how are they to meet this ongoing challenge? Students from low socio- economic status
backgrounds and students from rural and isolated areas are two equity groups which have made little progress in terms
of access, participation and outcomes in higher education across Australia. The University of South Australia targets
these groups through a scheme called USANET in an attempt to improve the access, and success rates of these students.
This paper will discuss how these students are identified, the barriers they face, how this translates into needs that
support services can address, and the strategies that are being used to support these students. One of these strategies,
the peer mentoring system, will be described in more detail: how it was started, how it works, how it is being
mainstreamed and the role of the support services in this process.
Equity and higher education in Australia
In 1991 the Federal Government, then Labor, released a policy document A Fair Chance for All
which for the first time articulated a framework for Equity in Higher Education in Australia.
Although not articulated, the underlying assumption was, that intelligence is fairly evenly
distributed across all sectors of society and not located within a particular privileged group. It
asserted that the student profile of universities should reflect that of the general population and
identified six groups which have been traditionally unrepresented in higher education:

students from low income backgrounds

students from rural and isolated areas

students with disabilities

women in non-traditional study areas

Aboriginal and Islander students

students from non-English speaking backgrounds
Although significant progress has been made in improving the participation of most equity groups,
two groups still remain significantly under represented: students from low income backgrounds,
and students from rural and isolated areas.
The USANET scheme
The USANET Scheme is one response of the University of South Australia to this situation. It
represents an integrated multi faceted approach to address and remove barriers which alienate and
disenfranchise students in relation to higher education. Its particular target cohorts are schools with
high proportions of students from low income backgrounds. It is very much a network of targeted
schools and students from those schools.
The aim of the scheme, which has two streams, is to provide greater access, participation and
success in higher education for students who have been educationally disadvantaged by economic
circumstances (Stream 1 Low socio economic status) or by distance (Stream 2: Rural and
Isolated). The focus of the scheme is to encourage a wider group of students to consider university
as a realistic and viable option, to help them get into the University, and to support them in their
studies.
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The three components of the USANET Scheme are Outreach, Access and Support. The Peer
Mentoring Program which is discussed in this paper is a part of the Support Program for these
students.
The USANET mentoring program
Under this program senior students volunteer as mentors to new students from target schools to help
them with their transition into university life during their first year and to help them deal with any
issues.
The program has been designed based on the fact that the experience of students in their first year is
critical in influencing if they succeed or fail. Most students who do drop out do so in their first
year, and the first few weeks are especially critical. As new students find it easier to identify with
fellow students than with staff, support from mentors at the initial stage can make a major
difference and contribute towards the success of the new student.
The role of the mentor
The mentor acts as the first point of contact for the mentoree and is available and accessible to
support the new student. Mentors can:

assist the new student to find their way through the university maze

support the new student in their transition into university life

assist in making the new student’s life easier and more enjoyable

help build confidence in new students

assist new students become independent
Mentors are not expected to know everything but will know how to assist the mentoree to get
answers. Mentors will know answers to some questions, be able to point the mentorees in the right
direction, refer them to people who can assist, offer support, or play an advocacy role.
Identification of mentors
It was desirable that as many of the new Mentors as possible were from USANET schools
themselves so that they acted as models for the new students. With this in mind, letters were sent to
students already enrolled at the university who had completed their schooling at one of the
identified USANET schools inviting them to take part in the Mentoring program. In addition,
posters were produced and displayed on School and Faculty notice boards. Students then selfselected by contacting the USANET Project Officer or the Student Support Centre on their campus
to register their interest.
Training of mentors
Following the feedback from the pilot program, it was decided to organise the training in three halfdays. The first of these was in late November 1996. At this session, trainee Mentors, with the help
of Support Staff and students who had been Mentors in the pilot program, identified the various
tasks of a Mentor, the knowledge and skills required to be able to perform these tasks and a list of
issues that Mentorees might raise (see Table 1). This lead to the joint planning of the final two halfday training sessions.
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Table 1: Issues Mentorees might raise
Austudy and Abstudy
failing and its implications
booking into tutorials
finance
career guidance
getting motivated
computing facilities
location of facilities/services
course and subject information
marking of assignments
culture shock
overdue assignments
dealing with stress
progressing in studies and
assignments
developing a network of friends
student facilities and amenities
doing assignments, referencing
study skills
exams
time management
The topics that the group suggested for further training fell largely within two categories: the
services that we need to be aware of and dealing with difficult situations. It was agreed that these
would form the basis of the remaining training days. The first of these focused on increasing the
knowledge and awareness of support services within the university. An opportunity was provided
for the Mentors to meet the Support Staff member who would be their contact and support person
on their campus. They negotiated how that support would be provided and organised a further time
to meet.
The final training day focused on dealing with difficult situations. The issues covered were
assertiveness, conflict resolution and how to apply these principles in real situations. To facilitate
this, a range of scenarios were developed and used for discussion and role play.
At the end of the training sessions, the participants were asked to complete an evaluation form.
Learning about dealing with difficult situations, gaining a knowledge of the support services
available and receiving resources to refer to were seen as the most useful preparation because these
were highly practical and of immediate use given that they would be beginning their role as Mentor
within a week. Being clear about the role and setting appropriate boundaries was also seen as
important.
Developing a model of operation
During the Orientation Week there were two meetings specifically for students involved in the
Mentoring program: Mentorees meet Mentorees, and, Mentors meet Mentorees. These sessions
were identified as vital, from evaluation feedback from the pilot program, and to ensure that the
program is launched in the most successful way.
The Mentorees meet Mentorees Session explored the aims of the Mentoring Program and the
expectations of the mentorees. In particular new students were able to discuss: what the
mentor/mentoree relationship is and what it is not, the responsibilities of both parties, problems and
solutions for mentorees, and, working with their mentor (preparing for the first meeting). As a
guide, mentorees were given a list of possible issues to explore before meeting with their mentor.
The aim of the session Mentors meet Mentorees was for the Mentors to meet the Mentorees and for
them to:

clarify their roles and expectations, i.e. make it clear what they can and cannot do

establish modes of communication, e.g. e-mail, telephone, meetings

determine the frequency, duration, venue and times for meetings

identify ways to deal with emergencies or difficult situations, when you can/can not be contacted and
how

set boundaries and ensure that both parties understand each other’s limitations
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Outcome and evaluation
The following results are from a questionnaire survey of a sample of students from USANET target
schools who enrolled in the University of South Australia this year, and higher year students who
acted as Mentors in the program.
Summary of results
A summary overview of the results show that:

65% of the sample mentors worked with one mentoree

currently approximately 1/3 of the mentors still maintain contact with their mentorees

approximately 50% met regularly with a set time and place

others used the phone, e-mail, and student pigeon holes to maintain contact

75% of mentors had four or more meetings with mentorees during Semester 1
Issues for mentorees
The problems/issues raised by mentorees, as predicted (see Table 1), related either to finding their
way through the university maze, or to study expectations and course requirements. However, there
was considerable call from mentorees for more detailed information related to specific subject
requirements, for example, penalties for late assignments and referencing protocols.
Problems encountered in working with mentorees
The problems reported by Mentors, Mentorees and those who registered but did not participate in
the program are listed below:

difficulty matching times to meet;

losing contact;

dealing with Mentoree’s depression;

Mentorees’ lack of confidence;

Mentor and Mentoree needing more time to get to know each other before the semester was
underway;

Mentoree inviting friends to contact Mentor for assistance;

English language;

different expectations of the program;

how to access the program once the semester was underway;

Mentoree not needing Mentor’s help after the first few weeks.
The main issue from both the Mentors and the Mentorees perspective was ‘access’, that is,
participants being able to contact and meet with their mentors/mentorees.
The main problem for students who did not participate and who either registered or did not register
initially, was related to the lack of information/knowledge about how to join the program. This
problem was exacerbated by some ambiguity about the procedures necessary to join the program
once the Semester had got under way.
Satisfaction
Although the number of respondents is relatively small the level of overall satisfaction of both
mentors and mentorees is relatively high. Just over 58% of mentors reported that they were satisfied
with the program, while over 71% of mentorees responded that they found the program ‘useful’. In
fact all mentorees found it either ‘useful’ or ‘slightly useful’.
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Some Mentors and Mentorees reported a lack of personal satisfaction related to the program. Two
Mentors were disappointed that contact with their Mentorees was not needed by their Mentoree
after the first few weeks of the semester, while some Mentorees wanted more information and
direction from their Mentors than what they were able to give.
Possible improvements
The logistical problems identified in setting up meeting times, places, and frequency are heavily
dependent on the needs, preferences and schedules of individual Mentors and Mentorees, and so are
somewhat immune to generalised models. However, a formal run-through during the initial
meetings of the range of contact models that were found to be effective might well aid both mentors
and mentorees in selecting the particular set of contact arrangements that best suit their needs. An
emphasis on the necessity for back-up contact procedures could also ameliorate some commonly
experienced access problems.
The survey responses suggested that both mentors and mentorees were acutely aware that mentors
could not possibly be all things to all mentorees. However, the call by several mentorees for access
to more detailed information regarding the requirements of specific subjects, highlights the need to
maximise the number of same-course (and even same-subject) match-ups between Mentors and
Mentorees.
To improve the satisfaction of both mentors and mentorees, the program could well be given a more
‘structured’ framework, for example the issues identified by both Mentors and Mentorees could be
used as a focus of discussions for initial meetings.
The feedback in relation to the desire for some students to join the program after the
commencement of the semester highlights the need for back up processes and procedures in this
area to be set and promoted.
Looking to the future: mainstreaming and expansion to other target groups
As with all programs which are ‘soft-funded’, once their effectiveness and desirabilty are
demonstrated there is a move to shift them into the mainstream in order to ensure their ongoing
funding. The USANET program falls into this category.
The USANET project officer position was funded from Equity money and therefore existed within
the Equity and Academic Support portfolio of the university and was directly responsible to the
PVC Equity and Academic Support. The support services in the university, now called Student
Educational Services (SES), also fall within this portfolio and were expected to provide support for
this program. This responsibility for the implementation of support services for the USANET
program was written into the SES strategic plan.
The next stage in the mainstreaming process was to move the project officer into SES and make it
directly responsible to the Head:SES in order to provide closer liaison between the project officer
and the support staff who were responsible for implementing service delivery within the program.
The project officer was then asked to develop a new structure for the management of the program.
This structure, which has now been accepted, includes an implementation working group which
reports directly to the Academic Policy and Planning Committee of the university and a programs
working group which has representation from the various professional areas within SES and
representation from each campus. The program is now firmly embedded in the mainstream support
services such that it could survive even if the funding for the project officer were withdrawn. If this
happened it would, of course, put more strain on the other areas of service provision.
The results of the evaluation of the 1997 program will be used to modify the program for 1998.
As USANET has been an effective way of targeting services to a particular group, it provides a
useful model with which to tackle other disadvantaged groups. A program for rural and isolated
students has recently been approved and we are beginning to turn our minds to students who are the
first in their family to attend university as another possible target group.
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Some staff argue that it would be ideal if peer mentoring was available to any beginning student
who felt they would benefit from it. This could be seen as the ultimate in mainstreaming this
approach! In times of scarce resources we must ensure that interventions are targeted to those
groups in greatest need and that those interventions are effective.
The peer mentoring program has demonstrated substantial potential for easing the often awkward
transition from the school to the university environment. Embedding and expanding the program
stands to significantly reduce the enormous waste of human capital represented by the high dropout
rates amongst first-year students. It also stands to make considerable inroads into the relatively low
participation rates amongst the target groups in higher education.
(This paper is an edited version of a paper presented at the ANZSSA Biennial Conference in Brisbane 1997)
The authors may be contacted:
Mary Hill
Project Officer
University of South Australia
North Tce
Adelaide SA 5000
Ph: (08) 8302 2344
Fax:(08) 8302 2363
E-mail: mary.hill@unisa.edu.au
Terry Davenport
Counsellor
University of South Australia
Warrendi Rd
The Levels SA 5095
Ph: (08) 8302 3419
Fax:(08) 8302 5777
E-mail: terry.davenport@unisa.edu.au
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