Apply to become a peer mentor
As a mentor with the Melbourne Peer Mentor Program, you will play an important role in helping new students transition to life at the University of Melbourne. As well as sharing your experiences and providing connections for your mentees, you will benefit from a range of training and enrichment opportunities to develop your skills and networks.
What is a Melbourne Peer Mentor?
A Melbourne Peer Mentor is a later-year student who volunteers their time to share their experiences and knowledge of university with new students. As a mentor, you’ll be assigned to a small group of students from your undergraduate course and meet them five times throughout their first semester. During your sessions, you will help students connect to each other by leading fun and engaging activities and helping them adjust to the highs and lows of semester. The Melbourne Peer Mentor team will provide you with training and support to ensure both you and your mentees have the best experience possible!
Why become a peer mentor?
As a mentor with the Melbourne Peer Mentor Program, you gain access to a range of benefits.
Develop your skills:
- Gain leadership experience and build your CV through volunteering your time and effort
- Develop your interpersonal, communication and group facilitation skills
- Participate in a comprehensive range of training, development and engagement opportunities exclusive to peer mentors.
Make a difference:
- Encourage and motivate new students to connect, belong and succeed in their first year at university
- Make new friends and meet new people from a variety of backgrounds
- Gain a deeper understanding of cultural differences and diversity.
Be rewarded:
- Gain a digital credential for People Leadership through Melbourne Plus to share with your networks
- Get an exclusive Melbourne Peer Mentor Program hoodie.
What do students have to say?
Andia
“Being a peer mentor is really fun! Seeing students leave my mentoring sessions with a smile on their faces is an incredible feeling.”
Kailey
“Peer mentoring is a great opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and develop your leadership and communication skills.”
Liam
“I've had an incredible opportunity to interact, learn and connect with incoming university students, while guiding their transition into university life.”
How can I become a peer mentor?
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Eligibility
To become a peer mentor, you will need to be:
- A current University of Melbourne student
- In good academic standing (not at risk)
- A student with no history of academic misconduct
- Located in Melbourne and able to lead sessions in person
- Able to attend compulsory training and lead five group sessions
- Able to commit to at least 20 hours of volunteering with your group.
Desirable:
- Experience as a mentor (in MPMP or another program)
- Experience as a mentee (in MPMP or another program)
- Participation in co-curricular activities (for example, clubs and societies)
Note: Students beginning their third year of study will be given priority during the mentor selection process. Priority will also be given to students who have completed a relevant undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne. However, we encourage all interested students to apply!
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Time commitment
As a peer mentor, you’ll need to commit to approximately 20 hours of volunteering across your time in the program, including:
- Training and development to build your skills and networks
- Leading five group sessions with your mentees across one semester
- Maintaining regular contact with your mentees between sessions
- Submitting session attendance and providing feedback after each session to help with continual improvement of the program
- Actively promoting the program throughout semester.
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How to apply
Applications to become a Melbourne Peer Mentor in Semester 1, 2024 are closed.
If you are interested in joining the program in Semester 2, 2024, please fill out this EOI from and we will contact you once applications are open.
Need help or have a question?
Submit an enquiry via the ‘Peer mentoring’ section in my.unimelb and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.