Board # 76 : Evaluating the Success of Peer-led Student Interventions in a Freshman Year Experience Program

This paper is a Work in Progress and will discuss the process and assessment of a structured peer mentor intervention plan implemented in a Freshman Year Experience (FYE) program at New Mexico State University, a Hispanic serving institution. The FYE program was implemented in Fall 2014 as an attempt to increase retention. After the first year of implementation, retentions rates from freshman to sophomore rose by 14.6%. The FYE program has several different components, including a hands-on introductory course, peer mentoring and tutoring, exposure to the engineering disciplines on campus, and other success initiatives. In Fall 2015, the program manager implemented an intervention program based on six-week performance grades that were entered by all 100 and 200 level instructors at the University. Students enrolled in the introduction to engineering course were required by their instructor and peer mentor to attend the interventions, if needed, as a means to increase student