FAQ for the Emerging Leaders Team applicants
This program started almost 20 years ago!听 It has gone through a number of changes but it has consistently been a meaningful leadership learning opportunity for students who want an experiential skill building experience. Each year we recruit for this volunteer program and provide successful candidates with training on facilitation and leadership to prepare them to take on the roles of leading our Emerging Leaders Workshops. In 2025/26 we expanded and are innovating to have a second stream!听
STREAM 1: Facilitator Focus - students on this team will focus on becoming facilitators through interactive workshops; they will facilitate the听Emerging Leaders Workshops听over the 2025/26 academic year.
STREAM 2: Leadership & Teamwork Focus - students in this stream will focus on leadership and team-working skills by four leadership-related workshops, a reflection session plus one-on-one coaching (on demand) with a leadership educator. Members of this co-hort are encouraged to apply learnings to their own individual and group contexts.听 Some previous members of this cohort have put their learnings into practice within their own part-time work, volunteer roles, group projects,听MicroExP, etc to explore and expand how they are developing in these roles with more intentionality.听 This gives them momentum to meaningfully learn and apply leadership and team-working skills in their academic life and beyond.
Below are our FAQs:
1) For planning purposes, how many hours of involvement should I expect for this program?
For STREAM 1 (the facilitation focus) we estimate an average of 24 to 28 hours over a 12 month period per student. This would include trainings, giving workshops and de-briefing/reflecting. As we have been doing this program for many years, we are able to work with our team members to ensure they get a full experience even if they are going on an Exchange program for a semester.听听
For STREAM 2 (leadership and teamwork focus) we ask participants to dedicate approximately 10 hours over a semester. This includes attending at least one out of four workshops and one reflection session. Recordings of workshops are made available for missed sessions.听 One-on-one coaching sessions with the Leadership Skills Advisor (Joan) are available on-demand for debriefing/reflecting. Ideally, students in STREAM 2 engage in their own experiential learning activity. For example, if a student ins involved in a student club, is doing group projects for classes or has part-time work they can consider how they can bring tools and resources to these contexts along with their leadership mindset. As this is our second year piloting this stream, we know that some of our team members听 found it helpful with their internships, with group projects and exploring how to work with peers more effectively and with more self-awareness, with their approach to making decisions about their future and goals as well as how to navigate power and privilege in the learning environment.听
2) I graduate Spring 2025, am I still eligible?
Yes! We are developing both Streams of this program this year to have specific options in terms of time commitments such as if you are graduating in Spring 2025 and (possibly) will not be taking classes in Winter 2026.听 In order to be more accessible, we will offer an option for both Streams that can be completed by December 2025.
3) When can I know more on the selection process?
For STREAM 1 (the facilitation stream) we will be in touch with all applicants by March 10 and will invite all selected candidates to group interviews. The group interviews are in March and it is a good idea to bookmark the dates ahead of time as we usually are able to invite many of the applicants. Our tentative dates for group interviews are Wednesday, March 12 - 5:30 to 7:00 pm or Thursday, March 13 - 5:30 to 7:00 pm (TBC).听 If necessary, we will add more dates and times.
For STREAM 2 (the leadership and teamwork stream) we check how many students applied and accept as many applicants as possible to have a good-sized cohort (between 20 to 30 people).
4) Will there be training sessions?
Yes, we have workshops/training sessions as well as debriefing and reflection sessions planned for each STREAM 1 and STREAM 2 to enhance and enrich your learning and equip you with tools and skills.听 See the bottom of this page for more specific dates.
5) Is it for Fall 2025 or the entire academic year?
Both STREAM 1 and 2 will have an option to complete them by the end of Fall 2025. They also can be completed over the full academic year.
STREAM 2 will be offered three times this year: over the Winter semester,听 again in Spring/Summer semester and in the Fall semester.
6) As I live on the West Island, would the workshops in STREAM 1 be offered online or in person next year?
The Emerging Leaders workshops are offered both virtually or in-person and we plan to continue this in the 2025/26 academic year. If you haven't already done so, you can see our current schedule on this site: mcgill.ca/leadership/studentleader/emerging-leaders-workshops
7) I want to know more about STREAM 2
STREAM 2 was a pilot project in 2024 and we have 2 groups now that have completed the program. We aim to give students a practical perspective on how they are practicing leadership and teamwork through group projects, part-time work, volunteering or other experiences. To do this, we will offer trainings/workshops, reflection tools and/or debriefing sessions to give students time to focus on unpacking what leadership and teamwork skills they are developing through these experiences more adeptly, resulting hopefully in them feeling confident and able to add this to their CVs!
Students who completed STREAM 2 reported that they were able to review and reflect on how they fulfilled leadership roles they had been in and were excited to have identified meaningful ways they could improve as they had time to reflect and gain valuable insights about their experiences, other students were able to explore power and privilege dynamics within student life and their own experience so they could address it with more confidence and courage going forward and other students who were quiet leader-types found ways to navigate group contexts so that they actually were being leaders within the group by summarizing notes and supporting the group's organization and planning.听
STREAM 2 is designed as an accessible leadership experience that will be useful now whether you are part of a student club, are part of a research group, work part-time or volunteer, etc. Through your involvement you are most likely using leadership and teamwork skills but you may not have a way of identifying what these skills are, especially for how to articulate them as career skills. STREAM 2 gives you structured information/resources via trainings and reflection/debriefing prompts so you dig into your own experience to assess your strengths and identify where you may need to grow. We also have tools including the videos on this site that cover what skills employers are most looking for: /onboardingcentral/careerskills so you can more readily articulate your skills for the job market.
8) Do we have to choose our workshop foundation for Stream 1 or it is part of the emerging leaders program?
For STREAM 1 selected team members lead the Emerging Leaders workshops (see: mcgill.ca/leadership/studentleader/emerging-leaders-workshops). We review and update these workshops each year (usually over the summer) so they may change somewhat for Fall 2025.
9) Can the experiences or any work I do here be shown on my CV? What are other benefits of being part of the team besides the experience?
Our aim for both STREAMS is for students will have meaningful leadership experiences that they can show on their CVs as well as an opportunity to reflect and identify the tools and skills they are developing through these experiences! We also encourage selected team members to take advantage of other CaPS resources like our CV or Cover Letter workshops to adapt your practical experiences into being more career-ready. In essence, this program is your gateway to an exciting blend of practical leadership development and self-expression within the university landscape, all while gearing you up with the skills that future employers are looking for. With these practical experiences, past team members have shared that they feel more confident about their skills sets.
10) I'm just wondering if participation in some of the activities comes with compensation?
Our program (both Streams) is a volunteer opportunity and we are not providing compensation. If you are a student who is working part-time, we aim to be an easy add-on so you are able to draw more career skills and tools out of your experience. For example, if you are working for a library re-shelving books you will be invited to reflect what type of skills you are learning through this job like are you punctual, do you learn quickly, are you proactive and helpful, are you reliable? We give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional and leadership capacities in practical and tangible ways.
11) What would happen in the event of a conflict between my course schedule and the workshop and/or activity schedule?
If you are in STREAM 1 and are wondering about a time conflict between your course schedule and our workshop schedule, we always ask our team members to sign up according to their availability.听 This way, you sign up to give workshops when you are available. For STREAM 1 trainings, we听try to schedule these events to accommodate the majorities availability and we also often record virtual sessions. We also can arrange to meet one-on-one to catch people up.
If you are in STREAM 2 we record all the trainings/workshops so you can watch them later.
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