If the student is not motivated, nothing will happen. Worse, if the student has a sense of mission and bad theology, more harm than good will be done. Most full and part time campus ministries of the ELCA have settled on a hierarchy of accountability. In many sites, the personnel committee of the campus ministry directing committee has the responsibility of oversight of the peer ministry program. Personnel committees function both as a level of accountability and as a sounding board for the peer ministers.
Accountability assumes a job description specific for the individual.
Each person in peer ministry at Southwest State University is understood to be part of a team, and has a specific role to play on that team. The contract between the student peer and the directing committee is specific in defining areas of service for the students. Staff relationships, expectations concerning attendance at weekly meetings and other indicators of performance are written into the contract. A specific area of responsibility within the total shared ministry is delineated within the contract. This year's team has an individual responsible for the off campus ministry groups, another who is involved with coordinating student led discussion groups, another who handles publicity and public relations and another who is in charge of music.