Minerva Mentors / PALs Program Description

The College gratefully acknowledges the support of the Mellon Foundation, which has funded this program for the next three years. This is part of their Academic Communities project.

We also wish to acknowledge the Reed Academic Success fund endowed by Preston Reed (’38) and Donald Reed (’50). This fund allowed us to run a pilot of the PALs program and will continue to supplement the funding provided by the above grant.

Directors Shelly Shinebarger, Director of Student Support Services
Kimmo Rosenthal, Dean for Undergraduate Education
Minerva Coordinator Sarah Boone, Assistant Director of Minerva Programs

Who can benefit from a Mentor / PAL?

A peer mentoring program can benefit a variety of students, not just first-year students. You might benefit from working with a PAL if you are:

  • Struggling academically (certainly if you are on Academic Warning)
  • Having difficulty adjusting to the pace of college
  • Needing help with study skills, note taking and other areas necessary for success
  • Suffering from stress, such as test anxiety
  • Feeling overwhelmed with managing your academic and social responsibilities
  • Finding it hard to achieve an appropriate balance to your roles as a college student

And more! Even if you might not think you need to meet regularly with a Mentor/PAL, you should familiarize yourself with the workshops and office hours that are available at your Minerva (see Student Info), as well as with the kind of advice that is available from your Minerva Faculty Advisor (see Faculty Mentor).

If you do wish to have a Mentor, click here to request one.

What follows is a brief description of the program.


Student Minerva Mentors

This portion of the program will be overseen by Shelly Shinebarger. Sarah Boone, Assistant Director of Minerva Programs, will coordinate the Minerva Mentor workshops in with the Minerva house activities.

  • This is a continuation of the PALs (Peer Assistants for Learning) program. Their primary responsibility is to work with individual students who need help in various ways, from listening and advising to offering time management, study skills, test-taking, and “negotiating the system” programs.
  • Each of the 7 Minerva Mentors will have use of private office space in the House and will hold regular office hours and meetings with students, as well as conduct workshops. They will work with the 3 remaining PALs as a team. (For more, see the Mentor page.)
  • The Mentors will visit each Preceptorial class from their House to advertise and discuss the program.
  • The Mentors will meet regularly with Shelly Shinebarger to discuss their individual student case loads. Kimmo Rosenthal, who is part of the College’s Retention Committee and who works with students in difficulty, will assist with this process.
  • The Mentors will work with Sarah Boone with regard to their work in the Minerva Houses, such as scheduling of office hours, planning of workshops and other Minerva related activities. (For more details, see the Mentor page.)
  • They will attend House Council meetings once or twice a term to discuss the programs in the House.

Faculty Minerva Advisors

This part of the program will be overseen by Kimmo Rosenthal. For more information go to Faculty Mentor.