Published on: Wednesday, 11 November 2015

29th October 2015
At the CIT Faculty of Business and Humanities Awards, students from the School of Business received PALS (Peer Assisted Learning and Support) Certificates in recognition of their mentoring to first year students in CIT. They completed training certified by the UK National Centre for PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) at the University of Manchester.

PALS supports 1st Year students on entry to third level. First Year students meet once a week with senior experienced students (PAL leaders] discuss and study material covered in a specific module. The benefits for first years are it provides support and guidance in a safe non-threatening environment resulting in increased academic confidence, communication, teamwork, collaborative problem solving, and interpersonal skills.

For the PAL Leaders who received their certificates, it enhanced their employability skills applicable to the workforce such as leadership, communication, teamwork and experience gained will be a valuable addition to their C.V.

Marese Bermingham, Head, CIT Strategic Student Engagement and Retention Initiative/Head Teaching and Learning Unit stated: “The PAL leaders showed great leadership in helping fellow students with their studies and should be congratulated for volunteering for this initiative and their commitment throughout”.

Gerard O’Donovan, Head of Faculty of Business and Humanities stated: “The PALS initiative has allowed our senior students mentor first years which has resulted in them being more confident in their learning and performing better. We see the value and success of the PALS programme and will continue to support it in the future as part of our retention strategy and student mentoring.”

 

(L-R) PAL Leaders - Aoife Ryan, John Collins, Niamh O’Leary, Christine Walsh and Ciara Meere
Image credit: John Allen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(L-R) Barbara Hempel, PALS (Peer Assisted Learning & Support) Project Coordinator, CIT, Marese Bermingham, Head, CIT Strategic Student Engagement and Retention Initiative/Head Teaching and Learning Unit,CIT, Dr Barry O’Connor, Registrar  & Vice President for Academic Affairs, CIT, Ciara Meere, CIT Student and PAL Leader, and Gerard O’Donovan. Head of Faculty of Business and Humanities, CIT.
Image credit: Barry O'Sullivan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAL Leaders, CIT Students' Union and CIT Staff 
Image credit: Barry O'Sullivan