When students have questions about a paper or test, they can go to the Writing Workshop or to an academic department-based peer tutor. For students who need advice that goes beyond how to re-write a paragraph or solve an equation, however, there is the University’s Peer Advisor program.

Since its inception in 2005, the program has taught students study skills, time management and techniques to manage stress. Some students come to advisors for guidance on course registration and other one-time issues, while others visit an advisor on a regular basis.

“We are your peers, so we understand the vicissitudes of student life,” WestCo Peer Advisor Rebecca Parad ’09 said. “But we are also trained advisors. We have both the practical experience and educational training to help when those inevitable academic issues arise.”

The fourteen peer advisors specialize in a variety of disciplines, including dance, chemistry, anthropology, studio art, College of Letters and Italian studies. Each peer advisor is stationed around campus at a high-traffic location, such as Olin Library, Usdan Café or Butterfield B lounge.

Sofia Warner ’09, a peer advisor for the past two years, holds drop-in hours on the third and fourth floors of Clark hall.

“The idea is that if [peer advisors] come to you, then it will make it easier for [students] to ask for help,” Warner said. “[This way] we can be a more consistent presence, not such a stranger.”

While most students who meet with peer advisors come for academic help, some seek advice on personal issues. The advisors recognize the challenges that come with being a student at the University and provide both academic and social guidance.

“Peer advising is not so simple as doling out generic advice,” Parad said. “People talk to me about their love lives, their families, their frustrations and their disabilities. We work to find synchrony between what is possible and what is practical within the context of each student’s life.”

The program is one of the University’s many student advising groups, including the Writing Workshop and departmental peer tutors.

The Wesleyan Fund for Innovation recently renewed the grant to fund peer advisor salaries and provides stipends for training during orientation—advisors are paid $10 per hour and work four to six hours per week. A new batch of peer advisors will be selected this spring, with applications due by March 6.

“I think that it’s an awesome opportunity,” Warner said. “It’s a really great way to give back to the community and you learn so much about study skills.”

Associate Dean of Student Academic Resources Sarah Lazare said that even students who are performing extremely well benefit from meeting with peer advisors. She said the advisors can suggest easier or simpler ways to earn high grades and strategies that will be useful in the long run.

“My freshman year, it was really hard to balance all the activities that I wanted to pursue,” said Lisa Lach ’11. “[The peer advisor program] encouraged me to schedule my time at the beginning of each week. I found myself with more free time at the end of each week and it felt good to accomplish what I set out to do.”