Acknowledging our peer mentor students

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If you ask anyone about their favorite RIT Croatia thing, most of them will say: RIT community. One of the reasons for it is the overall student support system available on our college. In order to help them navigate their student lives (and future careers!) we have enabled our students support from our faculty, academic advisors, career advisors and - students!

In 2015 - 2016 academic year, RIT Croatia launched the Peer Mentor Program with the objective to connect students so they could share ideas, experiences and learn from one another. The program was designed for Freshmen students to help them transition from high school to college. So far, the program has really been successful and we continue to develop it further. "We are very pleased with the mentors this semester and all the guidance they have provided our new students in terms of their academic and social adjustment. They are able to share the "student" perspective on how to have a successful start at RIT Croatia, and new students really listen and take their advice seriously.", says prof. Ana Maria Šimundić, Academic Support Manager, Instructor and Ombudsperson at RIT Croatia.

The college has 24 peer mentors in Dubrovnik and 37 in Zagreb and prof. Šimundić organized an informal gathering over dinners in Dubrovnik and Zagreb to award them with certificates of appreciation to recognize all their efforts. "My role is to recruit mentors, provide them training sessions, support them in their roles and monitor the program.", says Ana Maria. "I am so excited about the program because I see how important it is to the first-year students. It makes them feel like someone cares about them and helps them start building that important college network. Mentors play a big role in helping build up the warm, positive, uplifting environment that we all take great pride in at the college."