​Mentors are senior students who are appointed in residences and Private Student Organisations (PSO's) to assist newcomers with their adjustment and transition to university life. Each new student has access to a mentor who already plays an important role during the welcoming period with general assistance regarding university life queries and psychosocial support, but is it ultimately a support structure throughout the first year at university. Through the mentor, the new students are introduced to the Wellness-programme and participate in engagement sessions that highlight the different dimensions of wellness that would contribute to their holistic wellbeing.

The Centre for Student Communities (CSC), as part of the Division of Student Affairs (DSA), recently completed its annual training programme for the newly appointed head mentors and mentors. The training sessions of the forty new head mentors, who lead all the mentors of their respective residences or PSO's, was aimed at building a mutual understanding within the team and using one another's strengths to achieve success. Ms Joy Petersen, the coordinator of the Mentor Programme, says the intention is to refine and strengthen their emotional intelligence, tap into the power of their teams and learn the art of communicating effectively within their communities.

The training programme for the six-hundred mentors was focused on the 'Listen, Live & Learn'-model, which forms part of a greater theme in CSC. The first session 'I Listen to You: Power of Communication' was aimed at creating spaces where students felt comfortable to express themselves, in order for others to listen to their stories. The 'I Learn from You: The New Normal'-session had the objective to equip mentors with the necessary skills to orientate new students in the environment which they will find themselves in – an environment that will soon become their new 'normal'. And the final session, 'You Choose How You Want To Live', was aimed at the BeWell-programme, a six-part programme which all mentors and mentees partake in, focused on the emotional, physical, intellectual, spiritual, career and social wellbeing of the new student.

The aims of the BeWell programme are:

1. Address and enhance wellness variables that impact the academic performance of first-year students;
2. Continuously use the system's tracking data to identify more wellness factors that may affect academic performance;
3. Individualise and optimise the overall development and experience of both mentors and mentees;
4. Investigate the possibility of using the programme as a vehicle to develop the university's graduate attributes and to equip mentors with valuable employability skills;
5. Track the personal growth of mentors and mentees;
6. Create a flourishing campus culture.

When new students arrive at a residence or PSO, a mentor should be allocated to them. Should a student not be allocated a mentor, or have any queries, please contact Client Services at (021) 808 9111 or info@sun.ac.za.