RMIT Transforms Peer Mentoring with Vygo: Empowering Students and Enhancing Support
At RMIT University, peer mentoring has long played a crucial role in fostering academic success and building a sense of belonging among students. The programme connects students with volunteer mentors to provide subject-specific academic support, whilst offering mentors valuable personal and professional development opportunities. However, prior to its partnership with Vygo, RMIT faced challenges in scaling this initiative. From manual timetabling to a lack of after-hours and remote support, the programme was resource-intensive and inefficient. In 2020, RMIT transformed its mentoring model by adopting Vygo’s platform, revolutionising how mentoring is delivered across the university.
The Peer Mentoring Programme at RMIT
RMIT’s peer mentoring programme, led by Senior Coordinator Melanie Kidman, aims to connect volunteer mentors with students needing academic guidance across multiple subjects. It also plays a critical role in creating connections between students, promoting a sense of community and belonging in an increasingly digital world.
However, the reliance on manual processes and limited after-hours and offshore support strained resources and staffing. Approximately 6.5 full-time employees were required to manage just five mentoring rooms, making the programme difficult to scale.
Vygo’s Transformational Impact
In 2020, RMIT adopted Vygo’s platform, revolutionising its peer mentoring operations. The platform enabled RMIT to provide 24/7 support to students, eliminate manual timetabling, and ensure that offshore and regional students were equitably supported. Vygo’s features, including mentor-mentee matching, group chats, and direct messaging, streamlined communication between mentors and mentees.
This transformation reduced the administrative burden, allowing RMIT to cut staffing requirements from 6.5 full-time employees to 4. Additionally, the freed-up resources enabled the university to focus on mentor development and continuous feedback, enhancing the overall quality of the programme.
Programme Growth and Impact
Since adopting Vygo, RMIT’s peer mentoring programme has experienced significant growth. By 2024, the university sent over 20,000 mentoring invites to students, with a strong conversion rate of 7.74%, resulting in 1,548 automatic mentor-mentee connections. Vygo’s built-in analytics tools allow RMIT to monitor and assess the programme’s academic impact, contributing to improved retention rates and higher levels of student engagement.
The enhanced support provided through Vygo has also improved outcomes for mentors, who gain leadership and communication skills, and for mentees, who report increased confidence and better academic performance.
What’s Next?
RMIT is now looking to build on the success of its peer mentoring programme by integrating AI into the platform. The introduction of an in-platform AI coach will offer mentors real-time guidance and support, ensuring they can deliver the highest quality mentoring experience to their peers. This next development phase reinforces RMIT’s commitment to continuous innovation and improvement in student support.
Conclusion
Adopting Vygo’s platform has transformed RMIT’s peer mentoring programme, making it more accessible, efficient, and impactful. By embracing a digital-first approach, RMIT has improved the student experience and created a scalable support model that meets the needs of students across multiple locations and time zones. With AI set to enhance the mentoring experience further, RMIT is positioned to continue leading the way in peer support and student engagement.
Are you interested in seeing how Vygo can revolutionise your student support services? Book a demo today to discover how our platform can transform peer mentoring at your institution.
