Your students' relationship with your SI

SI Leaders are students themselves as well, that being said they are likely going to be good friends with other students. This is a peer mentoring program after all!

We provide the SI Leaders with training and information on keeping professional relationships with your students. Below is the info we provide them on our training website for the SI Leaders....

Relationships with students

Your students will look up to you as an important source of knowledge and help for the course.  You are a model student yourself as someone who has performed well in the course.  Be a role model for your students, but make sure you walk the line between SI Leader and Friend carefully.

Do:

• Bring a friendly presence and helpful attitude to best serve the needs of your students in sessions

• During your office time, feel free to set-up a groupchat with your students to keep them up to date on when sessions will be held

• Get to session early and chat with students about how their weekends were, or just generally catch up with them

• Connect students to helpful campus resources such as the counseling center if they should need it

• Send Blackboard reminders about when and where your sessions are

• Always encourage students to attend the SI sessions

Don't

• Give your phone number to students. Students will think they have a personal hotline to you and may constantly request your help outside of sessions and office time.

• Accept gifts from students. If a student offers to buy you lunch, a drink, etc.,  this is a conflict of interest and may appear to other students as a way to bribe you for your assistance. 

• Get involved in a romantic relationship with a student during the semester.  Like in the example above this creates a conflict of interest. When the students are no longer in the class you are supporting at the end of the semester, you are free to socialize with them in any way you choose. 

• Put yourself in a compromising position with your students that is unbecoming of your position.

The relationship that your SI Leader has with your students is paramount to their success. If their is any inappropriate behavior between your SI Leader and your students that you feel should be addressed, please reach out to the SI Team.