The FYS Peer Mentor Co-Op is a leadership-focused co-op position that supports the implementation of Wentworth’s First-Year Seminar. Student Peer mentors work alongside faculty and staff instructors to facilitate student engagement, support collaborative projects, and assist with program operations across multiple seminar sections. Each mentor will support approximately 9 sections (200–225 students) and help ensure a consistent, engaging, and supportive first-year experience.
To support the successful implementation of the First-Year Seminar (FYS), Wentworth will leverage its signature co-op model by engaging full-time co-op students as peer facilitators and program supports. The FYS Peer Mentor model will provide structured leadership opportunities for co-op students while ensuring consistent operational and mentoring support for the approximately 45 sections of the First-Year Seminar offered annually.
This model positions the FYS as a leadership laboratory for co-op students while strengthening the learning experience for first-year students through peer facilitation, project support, and coordinated program logistics.
Essential Functions of the position and the percentage of time each function takes up to 100%
Instructional Support:
- Assist instructors during weekly seminar sessions
- Facilitate discussions and collaborative activities
- Project Coordination: Act as a technical consultant for student teams during the FYS
Interdisciplinary Challenges (40% of the course grade).
- Help coordinate project timelines and presentations and support students through the iterative design process, prototyping, and final presentations
Administrative Coordination:
- Assist with course logistics and materials distribution and support communication across multiple course sections
Student Success and Mentorship:
- Provide peer guidance to first-year students and conduct 1-on-1 check-ins to identify barriers to belonging
- Assist them in finalizing their 4-year academic and professional goal maps
- Help students navigate campus resources and support academic planning activities
OPERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Peer mentors will support instructors and students in several areas. Each peer mentor manages their assigned 9 sections, but they may also act as a University-Wide Lead for specific course modules. The below are some examples of possible roles but final responsibilities will be based upon the skill sets of the group.
- Operations Co-op: Acts as the Operations Manager, help to handle the budget for challenge supplies and logistics for all 45 sections.
- Computing/AI Co-op: They can serve as the technical leads for Week 7 (Data & Technology Tools) and Week 12 (Advanced Research/AI), helping freshmen navigate the ethical use of AI tools in a technical environment.
- Design Challenge Co-op: Lead for Week 14 (Professional Communication and Prototype Presentations). These co-ops can help students build the physical or digital prototypes required for the 40% the FYS Challenge Development grade.
- Engineering Co-op: SoE co-ops bring the Engineering Design Process to the interdisciplinary challenges. They can guide first-year teams through the iterative process of moving from a proposal to a functional prototype.
- Global Citizenship and Inclusive Design Co-op: Lead the Global Citizenship and Inclusive Design components of the curriculum, ensuring the projects are grounded in ethical research and community impact.
