Interview with Mr. John Dahlstrand

I had the pleasure of interview Mr. Dahlstrand who is the Assistant Dean of Students Success and my instructor. I asked him a series of questions about the program why he thinks its beneficial.

Q: How long have you been at Washburn University? 
A: Since August 2011. So three years.

Q: How did the Peer Education program come about?
A: "The class Washburn 101 (WU 101) which is designed for a teacher and a peer educator needed a program to gather students together to assign students to classrooms. At first we only had eight peer educators and one of the biggest challenges was to figure out what to do with them in the classroom. Another challenge was to figure out how long training needed to be so that they were prepared to handle students in the appropriate way. It started off with a one day training course but we soon figure out that wasn't long enough for we extended it to a two day meeting. We quickly saw this wasn't enough either, in the spring of 2013 we had the first full semester training class".

Q: What stands out to you about the program that made you want to get involved? 
A: "The programs connects peer educators with each other and they have the chance to learn about WU 101 from behind the scenes and allows a different way to approach students.

Q: Do you think having peer educators on the classroom adds to the learning experience of students? If so why?
A: "They have to chance to learn more about the students and makes it easier for the teacher and the peer educator to better help the students, it also allows the foundation for more relationships with both the teacher and the students".

Q: What would you say to a student that was on the fence about joining the program? 
A: "It's a great way to get involved and get paid, it's also a different experience from a job. It can help with public speaking and you have the chance to help out with events".

Q: Who you say there are lasting effects for being a peer educator? If so what. 
A: "It's an opportunity to impact students and having lasting experience and being able to see the classroom from a different standpoint".

Q: Do students tend to come back to the program? (from the training to being in the classroom and veterans) 
A: "Yes, people tend to come back about 75% rejoin the program, thankfully we haven't had to let anyone go.