All new students get access to a mentor

Last autumn, a new service was launched in which all departments at Reykjavík University have a select group of senior students serving as mentors for groups of new students during the first eight weeks of the term.

“This is a project we started last autumn. It is intended as an additional service for new students at the university. The mentors help new students adjust to university life,” says Jóhanna María Vignir, a student and career counsellor at RU, who oversees the project.

“The mentor project is about helping students become familiar with their surroundings, learn about the things that are most important, and find out where they should turn if problems or questions arise,” says Jóhanna María.

Services brought closer to students

“There is a huge amount of information presented during orientation days for new students, and understandably it can be a bit overwhelming. The main idea is for new students to know that they can turn to their mentors for help.

This is part of the service we want to provide because we know that when you are a new student in a huge university environment, it can be complicated to know where to turn.

Maybe you feel that your problems are not serious enough to make an appointment with a student and career counsellor or send an email to a lecturer. We wanted to bridge that gap and bring the services closer to students, hopefully making it easier for them to take the step of seeking the help they need,” says Jóhanna María.

Up to eight mentors in each department

There are several mentors in each department. The departments’ student associations, in cooperation with RU’s student services, are responsible for finding volunteers among senior students to take on the role.

“This is one of the ways the project is intended to help new students become part of the RU community as quickly as possible. The aim is to shorten the adjustment period, make it more comfortable, and help them find their place in our university community.”

“There are anywhere from two to eight mentors in each department. It is largely up to the student associations to decide how many mentors they think they need and how many mentors they are able to recruit.

I support the mentors if they have any questions or if something comes up. The mentors are expected to be visible to the group of new students, stay in contact with them, make themselves known, and organize events. These might be two informal meet-ups,” says Jóhanna María, giving an example:

“Someone might find it difficult to attend a new-student party or another event alone. In that case, they can arrange to meet a mentor just beforehand and attend with a smaller group rather than not going at all. This is one of the ways the project is intended to help new students become part of the RU community as quickly as possible. The aim is to shorten the adjustment period, make it more comfortable, and help them find their place in our university community.

After the mentors have carried out their tasks for eight weeks, they receive a reward for their work. Their responsibilities and tasks are not intended to be huge, and those who served as mentors last year were very enthusiastic about the project and felt that it was highly beneficial to the new students,” Jóhanna María concludes.