Aubrey Kuperman, Valerie Kessler, Grayson Lanza Student Leadership: How to Leverage Peer-To-Peer Outreach to Spread the Word Aubrey Kuperman, Valerie Kessler, Grayson Lanza

OUR Student Leaders Peer Mentors (In-Office) – est. 2010 Student Undergraduate Research Council – est. 2007 SRA Peer Research Mentors – est. 2004 Discussion

Part I Peer mentor advisors/ Student Assistants

Peer Mentors (year-round) Student employees Target: recent graduates or upper-classmen with light class schedules Must be experienced undergraduate researchers Recruit over summer to train before fall starts

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What do Peer Mentors do? Peer Mentors cover the following topics: How to get started Finding a mentor and/or structured program How to reach out to a faculty member How to make the most of research Funding and travel Dissemination opportunities Everything else! In office, they also help us organize other outreach by running our social media and other projects

Using Technology to Improve Efficiency Implemented a sign-in survey in Spring 2016: http://ucf.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_3UbwZqZFaNeXnBX This helps us target which programs to talk about and what publicity to hand them Shortens our appointment times some and let’s us see more students Let’s us track who is coming to see us And why!

Why do students make use of this service? Spring 2016 semester (221 students) 170 students came in to figure out how to get started (79%) 57 students came in to find out more about opportunities open to current researchers (26%) A small number came in to follow-up on a previous appointment Fall 2016 (156 students between 8/24-10/14)

Who makes use of this service? (Fall 2016, 8/24-10/14) Are you a transfer student? 36% 64% Have you been to a Getting Started workshop? Biomedical Sciences Health Sciences – Pre-Clinical Mechanical Engineering Aerospace Engineering Psychology 16% Top 5 Majors 84%

Part II Student undergraduate Research Council

Student Undergraduate Research Council Requirements: Minimum 1+ semester of research experience 2.5 GPA Plan to continue researching during SURC term Application: Online (use Qualtrics) and an in-person interview 25 applications for 10 spots this year One full day of training after the end of Spring term Serve one-year term (Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters)

This Year’s SURC https://our.ucf.edu/about/surc.php This year’s cohort: Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology Psychology Political Science and International and Global Studies Engineering (Mechanical, Environmental, Electrical)

What does SURC do? They’re our megaphones on campus, they: Table at all campus-wide events Represent the office at every Orientation session Speak to classes and clubs Run our Facebook group (~1900 members) They’re our sounding board when we wonder, “What would students think?” 2 Committees: Marketing and Outreach Communications and Development Over 115 hours since May!

What’s in it for SURC? Research funding (up to $300) Materials for their research Travel to conference Scholarship (if they publish through our on-campus journal) Annual trip to FURC Nametags, pad folios, and polos! A great letter of recommendation They must complete 15 hours of outreach and be in good standing to receive these benefits!

Part III Sra peer research mentors

Summer Research Academy This is a one-credit, three day course event held annually since 2004 About 110 students from all various disciplines participate in the event Each group is lead by an experienced undergraduate researcher The course introduces students to research on campus Basics: what is research, programs available on campus, how to find a mentor Skills: resume building, literature review Activities: grant reviewing, lab visits, graduate school panels, mini-workshops

SRA Peer Research Mentors Role: Teaching assistants for 3 day “Intro to Research” course Current undergraduate research students or recent graduates Hired by discipline: based off of the applications we receive for student participants Recruitment: starts mid-Spring Application is on the website, with student application Target successful researchers: publicity goes out to all Showcase participants Training: Full 8 hours of training before the course event Focuses on the curriculum and on facilitating discussion

Responsibilities 3 days in-person with group of 8-10 students (discipline- specific groups) Serve as the primary point of contact for their students They lead discussions Facilitate course requirements Grade student work 1 day of grading a few weeks after the event, as a group

Costs Peer Mentor Advisors (2) SURC SRA Peer Research Mentors (12) (10) SRA Peer Research Mentors (12) Hourly wage: slightly above minimum wage Nametags: ~$20 Polos: $225 (ordered in bulk) Nametags: $75 Food: $500 Reward funds: Up to $3000 Mentors: $4000 in wages ($10/hour) Food: ~$100 T-Shirts: ~$200(ordered in bulk)

Part IV Discussion: How do you incorporate students?