CREAM OF THE CROP: Mentors of the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) programme with Associate Professor Dr Toh Kian Kok, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Quality Assurance and Enhancement and Vice-President of UCSI Group Human Resource.

CERTIFICATION: Associate Professor Dr Toh Kian Kok presenting the certificate to one of the mentors in the Peer Assisted Learning programme.

ALL SMILES: Student mentors with their certificates of appreciation. Joining them are Associate Professor Dr Toh Kian Kok (left) and Assistant Professor Dr Phan Chia Wei (right).

KUALA LUMPUR: To acknowledge the student mentors of the UCSI University (UCSI) Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) programme, the Centre of Excellence for Learning and Teaching (CELT) organised an annual appreciation day. The student mentors were acknowledged and received certificates for their efforts throughout the year. 

Organised on an annual basis, the PAL Appreciation Day 2015 is held to thank the student mentors who volunteer to coach their peers in courses which the latter need help in, through the PAL programme. 

During the lunch, the mentors and CELT team shared teaching tips, comments and encouragement on how to be a successful student mentor. Apart from thanking the student mentors, the Appreciation Day aims to cultivate and encourage academic volunteerism among the UCSI student community. 

The event was officiated by Associate Professor Dr Toh Kian Kok, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Quality Assurance and Enhancement, and Vice-President of UCSI Group Human Resource. He also presented appreciation certificates to student mentors who completed a minimum commitment of two semesters volunteering in the programme. 

Under the supervision of UCSI’s Centre of Excellence for Learning and Teaching, the programme currently has 50 student mentors who share their knowledge in about 40 university courses. Student mentors conduct study sessions with their student mentees and they usually spend around 10 to 20 hours per semester for the study sessions. 

Present at the PAL Appreciation Day 2015 were Assistant Professor Rajasingham Sivarajasingham from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, and Assistant Professor Yap Wai Sum from the Faculty of Applied Sciences.