I am infatuated with MTV’s “College Life.” When my friends and I gathered in the living room for last Monday night’s episode, I wondered what was so alluring about this show. I think there is a trace (OK, fine, a lot) of schadenfreude in our excitement, and it is a nice bonding experience for us gathered around that TV. But for me, the roots lie deeper.

What I find absolutely enlightening is seeing an epic academic fail in all of its flaming glory. To give a recap a recent episode: We find out that that our protagonist, Kevin, goes nuclear on his first pair of calculus exams (in the range of 30 to 40 percent). Two hundred and fifty people received either Ds or Fs in Calc 221/222 last fall, so I definitely empathize. We all should want to succeed in school; I think that is why the Madison Undergraduate Initiative focuses so much on increasing resources available to undergraduates (like Kevin). More staff means more opportunity. But, as Kevin has thoroughly demonstrated, more opportunity to succeed can also mean more opportunity to fail.

Our professors can teach until they are blue in their faces, but ultimately, it is on us, as students, to learn. Teaching is only 50 percent of the equation. Learning is the other 50 percent. What is so brilliant about the initiative is it understands that investing in the 50 percent that supports learning ensures these teaching resources are utilized correctly by students, thereby maximizing the value of every dollar spent on teaching.

That is why a including peer mentoring and an expansion of GUTS in the Undergraduate Initiative is a shrewd investment. There has been criticism that the term “pedagogical techniques” is jargon for phantom programs, or to help someone just get a Ph.D., and I sympathize with the feeling to loathe paying more money. But I want people to understand there are real benefits to the initiative that are not here to waste money, and they were even developed by undergraduates for other undergraduates when we saw a real need.

We currently have a program in the Biology 151/152 curriculum called GUTS Skill Acquisition Guiding Experience, where students have returned to serve as peer facilitators. Because they understand how to succeed academically, they know how to hold themselves accountable to learn. Thus, they are the ones that can create a culture of accountability for students, like Kevin, to follow.

To understand the magnitude of the problem, note a recent University of California-Irvine study stating a third of undergraduates expected Bs just for attending lectures, even if they learned absolutely nothing. How many of you are reading this article in lecture and not listening to the professor? The problem is students often believe college is about just getting a degree but not necessarily the skills that should come with it. The real world is about acquiring and utilizing skills in novel, pressured situations.

Our weekly sessions were designed with the real world in mind. The students make presentations on a randomly assigned segment of material from the prior week and are cross-examined by other students. You find out very quickly if you understand the material, and even more quickly if you are not willing to hold yourself accountable to accept your mistakes and improve. If you are, our facilitators are here to guide you.

In return, they receive two credits, become better at leading students and get to know staff for references. GUTS can serve as a nexus for a unified approach to develop peer mentoring programs on this campus by serving as a contractor to multiple departments. This was a path-dependent strategy: GUTS is the best foundation since it is an already existing organization, which reduces startup costs while utilizing existing infrastructure.

I believe this program is a unique opportunity to make the University of Wisconsin-Madison a shining example of how undergraduate education fundamentally works. Learning is a requisite to teaching — so it makes sense to structure a modern classroom that way. No other university in the nation can make that claim, and we’re doing it with a free, renewable resource: undergraduates. Multiple existing peer mentoring programs have already been independently implemented with a huge time investment by staff members. This would streamline the creation process and shift the responsibilities to an efficient actor.

Becoming skilled at learning lets people save time while earning better grades. I want students to enjoy all that Madison has to offer, such as running down to Picnic Point, working in our world-class laboratories or even creating time to watch MTV’s “College Life” — when it is in addition to academic success. Whatever it is, the Madison Undergraduate Initiative is truly visionary in its ability to see the benefits of a large scale peer mentoring program.

Shuhan He

Senior, biology

[email protected]