Tony D. Mueller
Director of Community Service Learning, Dean of Student Life
Big Buddies
Big Buddies is a child-centered service program that reaches out to the community by providing positive role models for elementary school children from the ages of 6-10 (Little Buddies Program) and middle school children from the ages of 11-14 (Middle Buddies Program). Big Buddies operates on Monday nights from 5:30pm-7:30pm in the Orton Center at the University of Redlands Main Campus.
The program is structured as a group-on-group setting, with one-on-one pairings. This system expands the role model influence to many different types of college students from the University of Redlands. The program invites children from local communities to participate. At this time, we are not accepting applications to participate in our program for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Program Resources
Sample Itinerary:
5:30 pm: Opening group activity
6:00 pm: Weekly thematic mentor activity
7:30 pm: Pick Up
Mentor Onboarding Process
In order to become a Big Buddies mentor, University of Redlands students must complete an application and interview that takes place during the first month of each semester. View the steps below to learn more information about this process.
Those interested in becoming a Big Buddies mentor will complete an application at the beginning of the academic year in which they would like to participate in the program. After the application is submitted, the Big Buddies Student Directors will contact the applicant to schedule an in-person interview.
The Student Directors will conduct a 30 minute in-person interview to determine if the applicant will be an effective mentor for the children in the program. The Student Directors will contact the applicant within one week of the interview regarding the status of their application.
In order to verify that the college mentors have clear credentials to serve with the Big Buddies program, the names of each applicant are run through the Student Affairs Office for a university/disciplinary check as well as a background check with Sterling Volunteers. After an applicant is formally offered the mentor position, they must complete and submit their background check and mandated reporter training to the Director of Children's Programs within five days of receiving them.
After the background check and mandated reporter training are submitted, the mentor must attend additional mentor training facilitated by the Student Directors. The training will educate mentors on their role and responsibilities as well as the daily activities of the program.
Once a mentor completes their training with the Student Directors, they can officially participate in the Big Buddies program.
