91ÖÆƬ³§

The COMM Mentoring Center connects students with trained peer mentors who provide support, encouragement, and guidance throughout the semester. 

We are open in the spring and fall semester starting on week 2 through the last week of classes. We do not offer tutoring during finals, on all university-recognized holidays/closures, and during the inter-sessions (Summer and Winter).

Please note: Peer mentors’ advice never supersedes the guidance of the professor or the best judgment of the student.

What is Peer Mentoring?

Peer mentoring is a collaborative learning relationship.

A peer mentor is a student who supports another student through conversation, reflection, resource connection, and developmental guidance. Mentors bring experience, structure, encouragement, and practical strategies to the relationship. Their role is to help mentees think through questions, consider options, identify appropriate resources, and build interpersonal connections.

A mentee is an active participant who brings questions, goals, experiences, and ideas. Mentees are expected to communicate honestly, reflect on their goals, try new strategies, and take responsibility for their own growth.

Our motto is:
Better Together, Stronger Tomorrow

Our vision is:
We strive to provide a homebase for guidance and connectedness for all COMM students at 91ÖÆƬ³§.

Becoming a mentee gives you structured support from a fellow COMM student who understands many of the questions and challenges students experience.

As a mentee, you will be partnered with a COMM peer mentor who can help you:

• Reflect on your academic and personal goals
• Build confidence as a COMM student
• Identify strategies for balancing coursework and university life
• Talk through questions with someone who has relevant experience
• Connect with department and campus resources
• Develop greater independence and self-awareness
• Strengthen your connection to the COMM community

How to Become a Mentee

Students who participate as mentees are matched with a trained peer mentor for the semester.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Mentoring partnerships typically begin during the second week of the term and continues until week 15 of the term (fall and spring semesters only).

Students must complete an online application to be considered for a mentoring partnership.

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What to Expect If Selected to Be a Mentee

Mentees should be prepared to:

• Start their mentorship partnership week 1 of the term
• Meet with their mentor for a total of five hours during the semester
• Complete at least half of those meeting hours face-to-face on campus
• Participate actively in conversations with their mentor and their mentee cohort
• Communicate consistently with their mentor
• Complete a post-mentorship form at the end of the partnership

Peer mentors are not expected to have all the answers or to be experts in communication. Instead, they listen, offer perspective, encourage reflection, and help mentees identify useful strategies and resources. At the same time, they develop their own professional communication, leadership, and career-readiness skills through hands-on experience supporting fellow COMM students—all while earning three units of upper division course credit in COMM 455.

As a peer mentor, you can:

• Strengthen your leadership and professional communication skills
• Apply communication theory and techniques in real interactions
• Gain experience in listening, goal-setting, reflection, and resource referral
• Build confidence in supporting and guiding others
• Contribute to the COMM community
• Gain experience that can strengthen your résumé and support future career goals
• Learn how to translate your academic experience into professional competencies employers value (Mentorship is listed as a top workforce skill [World Economic Forum 2025, Future of Work Report]) 

How to Become a COMM Peer Mentor

Applicants must:

1. Be a declared COMM major or COMM minor
2. Have upper-division standing
3. Have completed (prior to the start of next semester) at least four of the following courses with a grade of B or better before beginning service:
   • COMM 200
   • COMM 300
   • COMM 301
   • COMM 306
   • COMM 307
   • COMM 330
4. Demonstrate a commitment to supporting COMM students, faculty, and staff
5. Demonstrate professional communication practices, including accountability, responsibility, personal motivation, and leadership
6. Submit a completed application by the published deadline
7. Participate in an interview with either the Director of the CMC or a current Peer Mentor

Applications are typically due:

• The first Friday in November for spring enrollment
• The first Friday in April for fall enrollment

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What to Expect If Selected to Be a COMM Peer Mentor

COMM Peer Mentors should be prepared to:

• Enroll in COMM 455: Peer Mentorship and Professional Development
• Be partnered with a few mentees
• Meet with each assigned mentee for a total of five hours during the semester
• Complete at least half of the mentor-mentee meeting hours face-to-face on campus
• Participate in periodic peer mentorship training meetings throughout the term
• Complete a series of peer mentorship and professional development assignments

(effective fall 2027+)

The Certificate in Mentorship Communication helps Communication Studies majors and minors build practical, career-ready skills through coursework and hands-on mentoring experience. Students strengthen their abilities in communication, leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, active listening, constructive feedback, conflict resolution, and inclusive mentorship.

These competencies are valuable across a wide range of careers, including business, education, healthcare, nonprofit organizations, government, human resources, and management. As workplaces continue to evolve alongside AI and other emerging technologies, these distinctly human skills will remain essential. Mentoring gives students a meaningful, real-world setting to develop these capabilities while building confidence and professional experience for their future.

Why Earn this Certificate?

This certificate gives you the opportunity to:

• Strengthen and apply communication skills
• Gain hands-on experience as a peer mentor while putting communication theory into practice
• Develop career-ready competencies in leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, professionalism, equity and inclusion, technology literacy, and self-development
• Practice active listening, constructive feedback, conflict resolution, problem-solving, and relationship building
• Build confidence communicating and collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives
• Identify and articulate the transferable skills you develop through mentoring
• Reflect on your growth, evaluate your effectiveness as a mentor, and strengthen your approach over time
• Build concrete examples of communication, leadership experience, and professional growth to use in job interviews, graduate school applications, résumés, and other professional settings
• Earn formal recognition for advanced preparation and applied experience in mentorship communication

Employers value graduates who can communicate effectively, collaborate with others, think critically, demonstrate professionalism, and continue developing throughout their careers. The Certificate in Mentorship Communication gives you a structured way to build, practice, reflect on, and demonstrate these career-ready competencies through meaningful mentoring experience.

Certificate Requirements

The certificate requires 21 units, with a grade of B or better in every course applied toward the certificate.

1. Core COMM Courses — 12 Units

Complete four:

• COMM 200: Communication Studies Careers and Scholarship
• COMM 300: Survey of Rhetorical Theory
• COMM 301: Communication Criticism
• COMM 306: Communication Theory
• COMM 307: Measurement in Communication Research
• COMM 330: Intercultural Communication

2. Mentoring Experience — 3 Units

Meet the eligibility requirements, apply to become a peer mentor with the COMM Mentoring Center, and complete:

COMM 455: Peer Mentorship and Professional Development

COMM 455 provides the hands-on mentoring experience at the heart of the certificate.

3. COMM Electives — 6 Units

Complete two:

• COMM 334: Communication in the Workplace
• COMM 344: Interviewing Theory and Techniques
• COMM 355: Instructional Communication Theory and Application
• COMM 411: Interpersonal Conflict Resolution
• COMM 432: Leadership Communication
• COMM 443: Communication and Mindfulness

Electives may be completed before, during, or after COMM 455.

At a Glance

21 total units
4 Core COMM courses
COMM 455 mentoring experience
2 COMM electives
B or better required in all courses

Who Is Eligible?

Any 91ÖÆƬ³§ student with a declared Communication Studies major or minor.

Completing the Certificate

After completing all requirements, students submit documentation to the Director of the COMM Mentoring Center for verification.

Communicate with Purpose. Mentor with Meaning. Build Your Future.

Effective mentoring is about helping others grow while developing your own ability to communicate, lead, and build meaningful relationships. The Certificate in Mentorship Communication turns your Communication Studies coursework into practical experience and strengthens the skills you need to communicate, lead, and make an impact in your career and community.