Poole College’s Peer Leaders Help New Students Transition to Campus Life

Student organizations across campus are getting organized for the new academic year, but for Poole College’s Peer Leaders, their work began soon after they were selected for this service organization back in March.

“We had 60 applicants, and selected 21 to serve as Peer Leaders for this year,” said Shannon Edward, academic advisor in the college’s Office of Undergraduate Programs and Peer Leader staff advisor.

At New Student Orientation over the summer, those 21 worked with 19 returning Peer Leaders to help approximately 350 incoming freshmen and 180 transfer students navigate through the process of scheduling their first semester’s classes, figure out where things are on campus, and generally get settled into life in Poole College and at NC State.

Two Peer Leaders Recognized for Service

Two of the returning Peer Leaders had been recognized last spring for their service to incoming students during their first year in the organization. Both are now juniors majoring in business administration and are serving their second year as Peer Leaders.

Lauren Stigall received the Freshman Advocacy Award that is given to a member who goes “above and beyond” in reaching out to and connecting with his or her first- year students.

“Lauren always has a positive attitude and creates a very approachable and welcoming environment for all of the freshmen assigned to her, enabling them to feel comfortable building a relationship with her and going to her with questions,” Edward said. Stigall also served as co-chair of the Peer Leaders’ Recruitment Committee, which received the largest number of applications since the organization was created in 2007. “She was very organized and a great leader of event planning,” Edward said.

Preston Smith received the Peer Leader of the Year Award that is given to a member who goes “above and beyond” the minimum expectations of being a good Peer Leader by contributing significantly to promoting the organization’s goals and being an active leader and role model to other members.

“Preston has a very positive attitude, is a team player and is always willing to help out the organization,” Edward said. He has helped with events, such as Poole College’s Freshmen Welcome party and the Peer Leader booth at Packapalooza, the Hillsborough Street festival that wrapped up NC State’s Wolfpack Welcome Week activities. As head of the Peer Leader Relations Committee during both semesters last year, he suggested new ideas and helped to create opportunities for the members of the organization to bond and get to know each other, such as an outing to the State Fair, pumpkin carving, dinners out to eat, and more.

The Peer Leader award recipients are selected by the Peer Leader organization’s Exec Board and the club advisor. The winners of these are announced annually at the organization’s end of the year dinner celebration. Award recipients are posted on a plaque in the Undergraduate Programs Office lobby, 2150 Nelson.

Peer Leaders’ Role in Poole College

The Peer Leaders organization was established in Poole College in 2007 to help new students acclimate to NC State and Poole College, by providing a peer to peer connection for new students on campus, Edward said.

That relationship begins during the summer orientation sessions, when new students arrive on campus to learn about the college and register for their first semester’s classes. This provides the incoming first-year students with a Poole College upperclassman that they already know and can feel connected to even before stepping on campus.

“Having a Peer Leader also allows freshmen and transfer students to begin to get to know their fellow classmates and feel a part of the Poole (and NC State) community,” Edward said.

Stigall said that she “chose to be in Peer Leaders because as a freshman, I really looked up to my Peer Leader. She inspired me to want to get involved within PCOM (Poole College of Management) and help incoming students. I’ve been such an active member because I love the organization and the meaning behind it. Peer Leaders has also been an outlet for me to grow as a person while also learning leadership skills.”

When first established, the Peer Leaders only worked with incoming freshmen, Edward said. “This year, the Peer Leaders wanted to expand their efforts to all incoming first-year students. I think a lot of transfer students are excited about having this new resource,” she said.

The numbers seem to validate that: 103 out of 185 incoming transfer students opted-in to be part of Peer Leader program and to have a Peer Leader assigned to them.

Membership in the Peer Leaders organization is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors interested in service and leadership opportunities in the college, Edward said, “but it is very selective. Last year we had 60-plus applications and selected 21.” The three stages of the recruitment process and other details are provided on the Peer Leader website.

Applications for the 2013-14 academic year’s Peer Leader team will be available in March 2013.