INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTOR PROGRAM
In Semester 2, 2005 the International Student Support Office piloted its first mentor program for international students. The idea of the program was to help new international students transition into college life at Challenger TAFE, Western Australia. The program was initially only scheduled to run for the first four (4) weeks of semester, however due overwhelming success, the program has continued to run with approximately a dozen mentors spread across our campuses to-date.
Our mentors are not paid but willingly volunteer their time to assist new students settle into Challenger TAFE and Australia. Mentors are chosen after completing an application process, where they are selected for the program based on their life experiences, skills and social demeanor. Often, they are either staff or continuing students from Challenger TAFE.
Mentors are provided with a mentoring guide, and this explains visa requirements for international students, Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), course payments and the student coordinator's contact details.
Our mentors attend orientation day where they are introduced to some of the new international students, assist with the registration process and are on hand to answer any questions. Students are able to meet their mentors and exchange telephone numbers and make that important initial contact to try and establish a relationship with their mentors.
Mentors provide the student coordinators with feedback on students experiencing difficulty with their studies and transition to college life. If a student requires any assistance, every effort is made to match mentors with students from their study area, gender or campus location.
We recognise our mentors' voluntary efforts and support by awarding each of them with a participation certificate for the program and a reference for service to the college within the program. Since it's inception, the mentor program has grown from strength to strength through continuous improvements. This is only made possible with the support and advice of recent mentors, students and staff.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a mentor and participating in the program please e-mail: international.students@challengertafe.wa.edu.au or download a mentor application form here.
Our mentoring program is made possible by generous sponsorship from companies, including:
Medibank Private donated funds to the college to put towards the program. Shirts were provided for each mentor. The shirts included the Challenger TAFE and Medibank Private logos and the word "mentor" printed on them, so that mentors could be easily identified at orientation and other events by the students. Each mentor was given a mentor bag with products from our sponsors and an information pack on "being a mentor".
Worldcare Assist provided gifts to the mentors such as lanyards, pens etc.
Provider Code: 00020G