PAA Application

Peer Academic Advisor (PAA) Applications

Know someone who would make a great Head, O-Week or Year Long PAA? Nominate them for any position here!

PAA Application

The 2025-2026 application is now open! Applications will be accepted through 11:59 pm on January 20, 2025. Complete the application form here.

Email paa@rice.edu with any questions you have about the application or program.

PAA Mission

Peer Academic Advisors (PAAs) serve as liaisons to the Office of Academic Advising (OAA). PAAs support the office's mission to strive for an unparalleled environment for undergraduates to explore opportunities, identify goals, and implement plans to reach those goals. During the academic year, PAAs are a resource to all students at the college for information and guidance on academic issues.

Position Descriptions

Head PAA Role

The Head PAA team leads their college's PAA program by ensuring all PAAs are actively engaged and visible in their colleges throughout the year. Head PAAs work with and report to their OAA Liaison and Student Directors of Peer Academic Advising (SDPAAs). The responsibilities of a Head PAA generally require greater time and organization than the role of a Year-Long PAA.

Head PAA Responsibilities

• Work as part of a collaborative team of 3 people
• Delegate responsibilities and facilitate communication between a team of 15-25 PAAs
• Organize events (e.g. APS, Study Breaks) and encourage full PAA participation in the planning and execution of college events and initiatives
• Communicate and collaborate with Rice’s entire Community of Advising, particularly Divisional Advisors, Associates, and the OAA
• Recruit, interview, and select the college Year-Long PAA team in collaboration with the OAA
• Assign and manage PAL Groups among PAAs and first year students

O-Week PAA Role

O-Week PAAs supplement faculty advising and increase accessibility of academic advising resources for new students during O-Week, particularly by helping incoming students learn to navigate the university environment. O­-Week PAAs are also responsible for logistics related to academic advising at their college during O­-Week O-Week PAAs transition to Year-Long PAAs at the start of the school year.

O-Week PAA Responsibilities

• Work as part of a collaborative team of 4 people
• Act as a representative of the OAA and communicate with college Magisters, Divisional Advisors, O­Week Coordinators and O-Week Advisors prior to and during O­-Week
• Oversee, coordinate, and assist in academic advising-related programs in residential colleges during O­Week; these presentations include Magister and Divisional Advisor presentations, faculty advising, academic fairs, and academic planning sessions
• Answer general academic advising questions and have one-on-one discussions with new students during O­Week
• Help new students transition to the larger PAA advising community in collaboration with the Head PAA team

*Note that O-Week PAAs are not attached to specific O-Week groups. O-Week PAAs will work closely with their college advising team, but will not concurrently serve as advisors or co-advisors for a college. O-Week PAAs serve all new students within a college and the role is designed to be similar to the O-Week Coordinators, but from an academic perspective. There will be opportunities for O-Week PAAs to participate in college activities and specific details will be provided later in training.

Year-Long PAA Role

Year-Long PAAs serve their respective residential college community by providing academic advice to fellow students about a wide range of academically-related topics.

Year-Long PAA Responsibilities

• Work as part of a collaborative team of 15-25 people
• Take on responsibilities as delegated and communicate with the Head PAA team
• Assist the Head PAA team with planning college events (e.g. APS, Study Breaks, Office Hours) and fully participate in the execution of college events and initiatives
• Communicate and collaborate with Rice’s entire Community of Advising, particularly Divisional Advisors, Associates, and the OAA
• Communicate with assigned PAL Groups and disseminate critical academic information at various academic intervention points in each semester

PAA Eligibility

Any continuing Rice student in good academic and judicial standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of a 3.00 are eligible to apply. Applicants for Head PAA must be current members of the PAA program, and applicants for new Year-long and O-Week PAA positions do not need prior PAA experience.