1.5 Global Chums and Peer Mentors
If you’re not sure about anything, and you can’t find the answer anywhere in this course or elsewhere online, please don’t hesitate to ask!
All new International fee paying and exchange/Study abroad students will also be allocated a Global Chum to help you settle in. A Global Chum is a mentor to answer any questions you may have, and help you settle into life on campus as quickly as possible. You don’t need to sign up, and you’ll be contacted automatically in late August. However, if you haven’t heard from your mentor by the start of September, please email: globalchums-cornwall@exeter.ac.uk.
Postgraduate students can request a mentor by emailing: globalchums-cornwall@exeter.ac.uk.
CGES Buddy-Up Scheme
In CGES, we have a buddy scheme which is a key component of our student community. When, or before you arrive, you will be paired up with at least 1 second year student and their respective buddy (or buddies) in final year to create a buddy family. We recognise that moving to a new place, living with new people, and finding your way around a new place can be tricky and may be unsettling. This is why we have this scheme in place, to provide you with a social connection within CGES alongside the academic and pastoral support from your tutor. They can also act as a point of peer support and guidance – who better to advise and support you than students who have lived through the experience!
This scheme is led by our CGES Community Officer, Dr Katie Orchel (K.A.Orchel@exeter.ac.uk).
Peer support schemes are great opportunities to develop your support network when you start at university. By being matched with a student mentor, you can make friends and get guidance from someone with real insights into student life at Exeter!
We offer two types of Peer Support schemes:
- Looking for guidance on how to settle into your course or university life? You can sign up to a mentoring or ‘buddy’ scheme, to be matched with a student from your discipline or subject area. Alternatively, you can sign up to a scheme to request a mentor who shares other experiences in common with you besides your area of study. We have mentoring schemes for care leavers, disabled students, mature students, postgraduate students, and international students.
- Looking for curricula-based support? You can sign up to a peer learning or ‘PAL’ scheme, to be matched in a group with other students on your course. Your group will be assigned a mentor who will plan activities and facilitate discussion to enhance understanding of academic topics within a module or discipline.
Your Department will let you know early in the term of any peer mentoring schemes available for your course, but you can also see a full list of programmes on the Peer Support website to ensure you do not miss out. Where possible, schemes will indicate which campuses they are based on and whether they are open to undergraduate or postgraduate taught students. However, you can always reach out to scheme Programme Organisers if you are unsure.
Many of our mentees from previous years are now mentors and are very enthusiastic about how much the scheme helped them when they first arrived.
“Having been fortunate enough to have had a fantastic Buddy-Up mentor this past academic year, I have just signed up to become one myself for the coming academic year!” (BSc Economics and Politics student)