As our partnership with Queens College continues to grow, we’re excited to announce that the Academic Advising Center now includes a dedicated space for peer leaders to meet with students! Since launching our College Allies program at Queens in 2021, it has grown from 3 peer advisors to 16 who support both transfer and first-year students. Laura Silverman, Director of the Academic Advising Center, explained at the event: “We were newbies at peer-to-peer programming when we started. CARA led us every step of the way, and they continue. It’s been a transformative ride.”

In the program’s early days, peer advising happened mostly remotely or in small, shared spaces, but as student demand grew, the need for an in-person space became clear. This new space is a game changer: academic advisors now have a place to refer students for additional help, where students can drop in for guidance, use computers, and meet face-to-face with peer advisors. “Advisors are booked back-to-back on the hour with student appointments. With our time constraints, it is very helpful to the advising team to have the peer advisors to provide an additional layer of support and guidance to our students,”  says Rebecca DeJesus, Associate Director of Freshman Advising and First-Year Onboarding.

Fully integrated into the advising cycle at Queens College, peer advisors have provided critical support, helping the advising team meet the demands of over 1,600 students this fall. Thanks to our partnership with CUNY Central’s Office of Student Affairs, and support from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gray Foundation, and The Heckscher Foundation, Queens College is transforming the support students receive and changing the odds of their persistence through college.