Brock BaseCamp has operated an outdoor orientation program for incoming students at Brock University from 2009 to 2015. From the program’s inception, peer leadership has been a foundation for the program model and delivery. Each orientation trip is facilitated by upper year students whose main tasks are delivery of the orientation program curriculum, leadership of the wilderness experience, acting as ambassadors for the institution and building relationships for future transitional support throughout the incoming students’ university experience. Peer mentorship has been shown to have a positive impact on academic success (Tremblay & Rodger, 2003), ability to foster personal and professional growth (Glass & Walter, 2000), and social support (Allen, McManus & Russell, 1999). The BaseCamp approach to peer leadership is influenced by a concurrent experiential learning model, with both the learners and leaders achieving educative and personal goals together. By employing a concurrent experiential learning model, the BaseCamp program is able to focus on the learning experiences for both the incoming students and the peer leaders. This workshop will present our concurrent model, offer suggestions for pedagogical design and delivery, and speak to some of the lessons we have encountered throughout our five years of program delivery. Expect both a presentation of our program model and small group discussions regarding experiential learning techniques and their relationship to peer mentorship.
