Peer Advising Program

Mission and Goal

The mission of the Peer Advising program is to promote academic excellence and provide an opportunity for personal growth and leadership to Peer Advisors themselves. Peer Advisors work in close cooperation with staff of the Academic Advising Office to provide a high level of service to SUNY Orange students by helping them connect to and utilize campus resources. The goals of the Peer Advising program are:

For Students:

• To provide students with a supportive environment
• To connect students to campus resources
• To inform students of the services and resources available at SUNY Orange
• To facilitate student autonomy
• To encourage involvement in College organizations and activities

For Peer Advisors:

• To develop leadership skills as well as communication, presentation, and customer service skills

Expectations of a Peer Advisor

• Be proactive
• Possess quality listening/ communication/ presentation skills
• Enjoy helping others and able to handle multiple tasks
• Be understanding and open-minded
• Enjoy learning
• Be responsible
• Be a team player: collaborate with your fellow peers on any task
• Maintain open communication with staff and team members

Peer Advisor Job Description

• Support the New STudent Advising & Registration Tutorial (New START) program: review student eligibility, ensure students complete their requirements, conduct phone call reminders, etc.
• Assist students with login and navigating their accounts (MySUNYOrange, G-mail, Degree Works).
• Assist students who have seen their Advisor create their course schedules and register online.
• Provide timely and accurate information and/or referrals to appropriate College offices/ resources
• Be familiar with important registration deadlines.
• Assist with office duties including, but not limited to, data entry, replenishing forms, managing confidential academic records, and providing general clerical support as needed.
• Maintain complete confidentiality regarding all professional interactions with students and student records
• Adhere to all office policies and procedures.
• Attend and participate in training sessions.
• Other duties as assigned.

Application Requirements

• Enrolled in the current semester and planning to register the following semester
• Have a Cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher
• Bilingual abilities in Spanish are a plus
• Fill out the online job application

Selection

• Evaluation of qualifications based on the above criteria
• Interview with staff in the First Year Support Team

Time Commitment/ Payment

• A time commitment of 5 to 20 weekly hours is required to join the program (we will work around students' schedule while the semester is in session). Need full availability during summer and winter break.
• Peer Advisors are paid $15 per hour