Tip Tuesday – Preparing for Group Transitions

Rarely is one year in a peer education group the same as the previous year. Students come and go; the group’s advisor might change; funding may be different; topic areas may change, as well. We have put together a list of things to consider before summer break that may help you successfully transition into next year.

Evaluate This Year’s Experience

Advisors: Hopefully you already have some kind of mechanism in place to evaluate peer educators’ experience throughout the year. If not, now is a great time to start. Tie your evaluation to learning outcomes you have laid out for students in your group. What do you hope peer educators will gain as a result of being involved? What are some key skills they should learn or grow? You may also want to ask questions about how meetings went, how easy or difficult it is to become involved in the group, and how you might improve as an advisor.

Document Processes

Sometimes, an advisor or student leader leaves suddenly, leaving a knowledge-void in the group. Then what? A lot of time can be wasted trying to re-create or reinvent ways of doing things. Take the time to create files with summaries of how the group put on different events or programs, challenges faced and how those were overcome, and valuable lessons learned. This task can be divided up, then incorporated as standard practice after conducting future programs. Also make sure you have the mission, vision, values, and structural documents (such as a constitution) available. Year-end summaries may also be helpful to provide historical context over the years.

Elect/Appoint Student Leaders Now

Rather than waiting until fall to elect new leaders, try bringing them in now to help create continuity from year to year. Have regular meetings with the outgoing/incoming leaders to ensure important information and planning does not get lost over the summer.

Outline Events and Key Times for Next Year

Start looking at the calendar to compare what events you will definitely hold, key campus-specific times (e.g. Homecoming), holidays and school closures, and awareness weeks or recognized national events. Are there events that other groups hold that you could co-sponsor or be a part of? All of those things will help the group get a skeleton for the year and start planning the duties involved to make it all happen.

Outline Budget for Next Year

If you have not done so already, map out the coming academic year and your various funding sources (or gaps). Will you send people to General Assembly in Kansas City, Missouri? Regional Spring Conferences? How many large events do you anticipate doing? If you need to think about fundraising, who are some potential sponsors or what are other ways of helping cover the costs?

Summer Help

See if there is a way to have one of your peer leaders work a few hours a week during the summer. This could be an internship or work-study position. This individual can help with planning, ordering, and researching for the new year.

Develop (and Start) Your Recruiting Plan

How are you attracting new members to your group? Are there classes or other organizations where you can recruit? Starting in spring will help get some buzz going and hopefully help you line up some peer educators in advance. Some groups even conduct some basic training for peer educators now so that people are ready to go for the fall term.