For students, by students: New initiative aims to make Virginia Tech a leader in peer education

As a peer educator with the Student Success Center, senior physics major Jimmy O’Hora helps other undergraduates with some of the most famously excruciating subjects: physics, math, and Python.

“It’s rewarding to share my passion with other people, and I think it’s my own unique way of contributing to Ut Prosim,” he said.

This fall, a new cross-campus initiative from the Student Success Center aims to make Virginia Tech a global leader in peer education, a form of experiential learning where students help their peers meet their educational goals. An online academy for peer educators and a community of practice for program administrators debuted this fall, while an international scholarly journal centered on peer education recently found a new home at Virginia Tech.

“We're really building something that is, I think, unique in higher education,” said Christina Fabrey, director of the Student Success Center. “There’s nothing like it that we know of.”

Proliferating peer education

Peer educators work in at least 47 programs across campus as mentors, coaches, tutors, ambassadors, advisors, teaching assistants, and more — so many different roles their numbers are hard to pinpoint.

They tutor athletes through the Student Athlete Academic Support Services Office, mentor students in First-Year Experience courses, act as hazing prevention advocates for fraternities and sororities, serve as ambassadors for the Office of Undergraduate Research, and in some programs work with thousands of students.

“Peer education programs at universities are incredibly popular, because they reach students in a personal, accessible, relatable way,” said Amber Smith, associate director of the Student Success Center. For the peer educators themselves, participation boosts deep learning, confidence, belonging, communication, and leadership skills. And it happens to look good on a resume.

Solutions for siloes and support

As peer education programs proliferated at Virginia Tech, however, it became clear that a need was growing for peer educator training and support. Programs were siloed in different units, and administrators creating and leading them often felt isolated.

Fabrey and Smith, who annually train 100 peer tutors and coaches at the Student Success Center, joined with partners from Academic Advising, Career and Professional Development, and Student Affairs to establish the Peer Education Programs working group.

Their three-part solution of training academy, community of practice, and academic journal “really elevates what we can provide to the global community so that Virginia Tech truly becomes a hub for peer learning in higher education,” said Fabrey.

Three pillars of the peer education initiative

Peer education academy

A new series of eight online modules for peer educators launched this November, with the goal of providing high-quality training to students in campus programs.

The Student Success Center already offers its tutors the chance to earn an internationally recognized certification from the College Reading and Learning Association as a microcredential that proves its bona fides. With inspiration from the association, Smith and Fabrey realized that they could provide a similar framework to support peer educators across their various roles. 

The asynchronous program, built with help from Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies, aligns with best practices in peer education and helps students understand the landscape of Virginia Tech, said Smith. Course topics include understanding what being a peer educator is; setting boundaries and maintaining balance; building rapport, trust, and safety; and mastering critical communication skills. Over time, they plan to add additional role-specific training for tutors, coaches, and more.

Peer education community of practice

Administrators who operate peer education programs often do so in isolation, without a sense of what others at the university are doing or the best practices in the field.

To create space for topical trainings, connection, and idea-sharing, the Peer Education Programs working group debuted a new community of practice in September with more than 40 participants. Together, they’re eagerly exploring subjects such as culture and training, data collection and assessment, recruiting and hiring, professional development, campus partnerships, and celebrating wins. 

Peer education international journal

The last piece of the peer education puzzle was relocating the international scholarly Journal of Peer Learning to Virginia Tech. Previously, the journal was based at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Smith serves as copy editor. When some turnover led the editorial team to look for a new host institution, Virginia Tech Publishing, the university’s digital-first, open-access publisher, agreed to take the digital journal on.

An evidence-based research component is the natural third leg of the peer education stool. Smith said, “students and faculty can publish, and it's also a resource for best practices in research and the latest, most innovative information about peer learning.”

A leader in the field

With how scattered and widely varied peer education programs are on campus, they’re already making a powerful difference in student success. Consider, for instance, the Biological Sciences Student Ambassador Program.

The student ambassadors' efforts include a biweekly newsletter, events such as Pizza with Profs, guided tours of labs, and service projects in local communities. “We're not having events with hundreds of people, but if we can help one person, that's all that matters to me,” said Zach Glesius, a junior biological sciences major who joined the ambassadors in his first year and now runs the newsletter.

Meg Emori, advanced instructor in biological sciences, supervises the ambassador program and its 18 peer educators. Already she’s benefited from the Student Success Center’s new efforts around peer education. As the lone faculty advisor for the student ambassadors in her department, she joined the community of practice hoping to connect with others like her. After two meetings, Emori said, “I’m definitely not feeling alone anymore. It’s energizing.”