Do you remember back in O-Week when those energetic O-Week PAAs, as well as Year-Long PAAs helped alleviate your class schedule and registration stresses? Or, how about those cute and informational Academic Planning Sessions and Study Breaks your PAAs host every semester? Well, now it’s time for YOU to step up to the challenge! We’ll soon be looking for the next generation of energetic, passionate, approachable, and helpful students to apply to be Peer Academic Advisors!
You might not be aware of this, but a really great feature of the program is that we’re constantly looking for ways to improve. You have autonomy within your college to host your choice of events, hold office hours, use social media, and/or to do whatever else you can think of that will help students plan their academic futures!
We also have just kicked off a new committee program where PAAs specialize in different aspects of advising such as transfers, undecided students, pre-laws, health professions, research opportunities, etc. Since it’s a brand new program, we are very open to new ideas, as well as new leaders!
Additionally, I strongly recommend that you check out the article “Outcomes of being a PAA” (https://ricepaa.rice.edu/2012/06/29/outcomes-of-being-a-paa/)! It has some great testimonials from current PAAs about the merits of the program. Here’s a snippet of my favorite one:
“Being a PAA, and specifically a Head PAA, has allowed me to gain leadership experience in planning and organizing events for my peers. It is extremely rewarding to have so many people attend an event that we organized, and even further gratifying to see how many people walk out after an academic planning session much more comfortable and confident with their academic plans… I think the success of Rice’s PAA program is validated through the fact that many, if not all, of Rice students that I know feel much more comfortable going to a PAA than going to even major department advisors.”
– Sachin Allahabadi, Sid Rich
Lastly, a little haiku for your amusement:
To help students scheme
And to bring new ideas
Be a PAA!
Keep checking back to the PAA Blog for more information and application!
Greta Skudra, McMurtry Head PAA