Copyright © 2016 Metropolitan Universities Vol. 27 No. 3 (Autumn 2016), DOI: 10.18060/21400 

Book Review - Developing Effective Student Peer Mentoring Programs (P. J. Collier) 

7.17.16 

 

 

Dr. Daniel J. Shipp 

 

 

Peter J. Collier’s book, Developing Effective Student Peer Mentoring Programs, provides a 

comprehensive review of college-based student mentoring programs and the associated rationales 

for utilizing them to improve student persistence and degree completion at today’s universities and 

colleges. He uses well-known streams of research that support the use of mentoring programs to 

engage students and increase the likelihood of improved success outcomes. Collier goes further 

and focuses significant attention on the use of mentoring programs that have been designed to 

engage growing populations of first generation college students, underserved minority students, 

international students, and transfer students. Through the use of relevant vignettes, Collier and his 

contributors persuasively argue that mentoring programs should be considered as an important, 

cost-efficient variable in the development of a comprehensive undergraduate student success 

strategy for colleges and universities.  

 

In the early chapters, Collier provides the essential framework to understanding the crisis of low 

graduation and retention rates confounding higher education today. This framework is important 

to helping the reader better understand the central question of this book: why and how to use peer 

mentoring programs to improve undergraduate student success. Collier answers these questions 

and more in a series of organized explorations of benefits and best practices that can be used to 

guide the design and implementation of peer-mentoring programs best suited for the specific 

needs/goals of the individual campus.  

 

The book underscores the realities that while peer-mentoring programs are in vogue today at many 

higher education institutions, benefits to students can sometimes be limited due to unclear program 

strategies and goals. In an effort to address these issues, Collier provides the reader with excellent 

examples of successful mentoring programs that include explicit strategies, goals, and evaluations. 

He also includes a “how to” section designed to help practitioners either improve their current 

program or develop a mentoring program for their campus population and identify program 

outcomes.   

 

This peer-mentoring handbook is organized in an easy-to-reference format that allows both 

experienced student success professionals and neophyte practitioners to find valuable information 

related to their work. The first four chapters complete a thorough review and discussion of the 

status of peer mentoring in higher education today. Collier focuses the remaining chapters on how 

to design, implement, adapt, and evaluate a program suited for specific populations and outcomes.  

 

In today’s challenging higher education environment, identifying affordable tools and strategies 

that improve student outcomes are critical priorities for colleges and universities. Collier’s 

handbook makes a substantial contribution to the field of student success by creating a valuable 

handbook that serves as a necessary tool for college-based practitioners charged with creating and 

managing peer mentoring programs on their campus. The book is an essential read for academic 



 179 

and student-affairs professionals charged with organizing and implementing peer mentoring 

programs on their campuses.  

 

Author Information 

 

Dr. Daniel J. Shipp is the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at the 

University of Nebraska Omaha.  

 

Dr. Daniel J. Shipp 

E-mail: dshipp@unomaha.edu  

mailto:dshipp@unomaha.edu