“Course Embedded Peer Mentoring” is not only something the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business declares as a cornerstone of their Rose Center for Peer Mentorship, but it is also the title of a recent article published by Dr. Laura Lunsford and Renee Green in the International Mentoring Association’s (IMA) Connect Journal.
The article highlights the benefits of peer mentoring at universities and explains how the Campbell Business School matches every first-semester first-time student with a trained Peer Mentor through their first-year seminar. Peer Mentors facilitate discussions each week connected to the topic from class, inviting open conversation related to the transition to college and fundamentals of business.
Lunsford is professor and chair of psychology at Campbell University. In addition to more than 40 articles, chapters, books and presentations on mentoring and leadership development, she wrote the definitive Handbook for Managing Mentoring Programs. Green serves as the director of leadership development and student success in the business school, also serving as the director of the Rose Center. Both serve on the board of the International Mentoring Association.
Lunsford and Green have been working together for the past year to continue to grow Campbell’s Rose Center for Peer Mentorship and the impact of mentorship across Campbell’s campus and beyond. Both share a passion for the way a strong mentor can impact the life and development of an individual.
“College can be such an exciting and overwhelming time with a lot of changes and new opportunities; having the right mentor at the right time can make all the difference,” Green said. “Dr. Lunsford is the best in the business when it comes to growing mentor programs, and I’m thankful for her mentorship in my life.”
In addition to the IMA journal article in June, Green presented on their program’s unique three-generation model at the Gardner Institute’s Symposium on Transforming the Foundational Postsecondary Experience. The Rose Center model joins a first-semester student with a peer mentor and an alumni mentor. Peer mentors help first-year students connect, find resources, and find a place to belong. Alumni Mentors offer a greater sense of community and aid in the students’ personal and professional development.
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