Academic Skills Rovers: A just in time peer support initiative for academic skills and literacy development

In 2013 the University of Canberra (UC) initiated a program of peer-assisted academic skills help, the Academic Skills Rovers program, with the goal of providing drop-in peer learning support to students at campus locations where they congregate to study. The Academic Skills Rovers were initially recruited from the teacher education discipline, but the pool was subsequently extended to include students with high-level literacy skills from other fields. The program has proven to be a successful addition to the scope of learning development support offered at UC, as measured by a rapid increase in the number and reach of consultations, enthusiastic evaluations by students, and the positive experiences of the Rovers themselves. This article outlines and analyses the features of the program to provide a road map for other institutions contemplating the introduction of a similar service and proposes possible further directions for the future.