Welcome current and future University 101 Peer Leaders! Your involvement with first year students at the University of South Carolina is an essential piece of the University 101 program.

History of Peer Leaders:

During the 1993-94 academic year, University 101 initiated the Peer Leaders Program.  Outstanding junior and senior level students team-teach with University 101 instructors and serve as role models and mentors for the incoming first-year students.

What is a Peer Leader?

The principle behind the Peer Leaders Program is that first-year students relate particularly well to exceptional upper-class students and are encouraged to excel both academically and as future campus leaders.  Moreover, it is hoped that some of the peer leaders will be inspired to consider pursuing careers in higher education, teaching and administration.

How do I become a Peer Leader?

Each potential peer leader is subjected to a challenging selection process whereby each student must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0, demonstrate leadership in other areas of university life, and be actively involved in campus and community activities.  Upon being selected as a peer leader, each student must complete a mandatory training workshop.

Applications become available mid-October and are due a few weeks after students return from Winter Break. The Priority Deadline is usually the first week of December for new Peer Leaders to learn of their acceptance prior to Winter Break and have the first choice of training dates.

EDLP 520:

Peer Leaders are also required to enroll in a three credit hour Educational Leadership and Policies course (EDLP 520, The Teacher as Manager).  In EDLP 520, these students learn innovative teaching techniques and also help the peer leaders process and integrate their classroom experiences and responsibilities. The course is taken concurrently with the peer leader’s University 101 class.  Therefore, peer leaders should enroll in EDLP 520 for the same semester they are teaching University 101.

Part of the EDLP 520 coursework is creating Model Lesson Plans to use in University 101. Sample Model Lesson Plans can be found in the Instructor Toolkit given to each Peer Leader and other can be found by clicking here.

If you are interested in serving as a University 101 Peer Leader, please explore our website to learn more about the program. For more information regarding our Peer Leader program, contact Katharine Pei at peik@mailbox.sc.edu or Spencer Bennett at scbennett@mailbox.sc.edu.