Promoting Inclusion Through a Peer Mentoring Program

Various studies have shown the need for and importance of inclusion in an undergraduate student's campus experience, academic success and career development. The Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department organizes monthly department events, such as open house, internship and career workshops, Lunch and Learn with employers, and holiday parties. These events are always well received and help to connect and engage with the BME students. We have also noticed that many first-year students do not attend these events, which could negatively impact the retention and student academic progress. The COVID-19 pandemic has added further challenges especially for the first-year students to make connections and socialize as easily as prior to the pandemic. We started a BME peer mentoring program with the main goal to help incoming first-year students make a smooth transition from high school to college. Every student is assigned a BME mentor. The mentors are Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) chapter officers and/or Biomedical Engineering Honor Society members. The mentors start email communication with the mentees in the summer. At the meet and greet in the first week of the fall semester, the BME Department office introduces expectations for the mentors and mentees, such as monthly one-on-one meetings, participation of at least one BMES and/or BME department events every month, and completion of end-of-semester surveys. It also provides essential support throughout the year to facilitate the program by providing mentor training, keeping an open-door policy to address any concerns from the mentors or mentees, channeling their need to other offices, and promoting the value of peer mentoring and learning. It is expected that the mentoring program will help build peer relationships between the mentors and mentees, encourage first-year students to progress towards their educational goals, and enrich their campus experience. The mentors will also benefit from the program with enhanced confidence, leadership and communication skills. We report in this article the process of implementing our peer mentoring program, major findings, student survey results, and lessons learned.