From February, students at Keele University will be able to sign up for peer mentoring with Tyfy.
After a successful year working with students at Nottingham University Business School, the online peer mentoring platform for students is expanding across the Midlands to work with Foundation Year students at Keele University. Founded in 2017, Tyfy takes a modern approach to mentoring, matching students together electronically and letting them communicate in a way they understand – through their phones.
Every University runs some variation on a peer mentoring schemes, and the benefits are widely recognised, from engaging students with their course and campus life to supporting the welfare. But the problem? It just isn’t reasonable to expect the generation who express emotion through emoticons, check their bank balance using their thumbprint and find love by swiping right on an app to engage with this face to face contact in the same way that they would have done twenty years ago. As a result, University peer mentoring schemes are no longer having the desired impact, and many students are suffering in silence.
“Tyfy.co was founded in response to the need to connect students to each other. Having previously completed a Foundation Year at Keele myself, I’m really excited to start working with the students.”
James Doherty, Founder.
Tyfy wants to change this. By matching them electronically based on their module data, students can access bespoke, reliable support as and when they need it – and it’s more rewarding to give it, too. Mentors are reviewed based on the help they give, providing them with a metric to display their academic knowledge, soft skills and employability… all from the comfort of their phones. Older students don’t have time for an awkward meeting with a first year, but they do have the time to answer a quick question on their phone and earn a review demonstrating their communicative and academic aptitude. Most younger students are far too scared to walk up to a final year and talk about their problems (academic or otherwise), but behind the comfort of a screen they’re far more willing to admit they need help – and Tyfy makes sure they get it.
Now, Tyfy is expanding in Universities across the country, with Foundation Year students at Keele University amongst the most recent to be able to access support. Mentoring gives these students the opportunity to integrate into campus society and prepare for future study – crucially, the accessibility of online support is key in making sure as many students as possible are reached.
You can read more about how Tyfy helps Universities and Students here.
”It’s such a great opportunity to be able to work with students at Keele. We’ve always wanted to keep the company close to home, and it’s nice to be able to give something back to the University community who have supported us so much.’
– Emily Goodwin, Marketing Co-ordinator and current Keele student