Faculty Member Shares Unique Peer Project at Conference

A unique peer mentoring program created at Penn State DuBois was in the spotlight at the Two-Year College Association (TYCA) conference held recently in Portland, Maine. Jacquelyn Atkins, instructor in English at Penn State DuBois, was among the presenters at the 37th annual conference titled "The Learner at the Center: Conversations about Learning and Teaching." Atkins's presentation, "A Strong Network of Encouragement: Peer Mentors in Basic Writing," detailed the development of a successful peer mentoring program at Penn State DuBois. Atkins was the coordinator of the program in its inaugural year and was also instrumental in securing a grant from the University Equal Opportunity Committee for funds to launch the project. "In his 1999 'State of the University' address, Penn State President Graham Spanier called for the establishment of a strong network of encouragement for under-prepared and first-generation students. At Penn State DuBois, the campus answered the call by creating a peer mentoring program for basic writing students which began operating in fall 2000," explained Atkins. For the full story, visit http://www.ds.psu.edu/UnivRelations/NewsEvents/atkins.html