The department of student life at the University of Guelph is a group of devoted to making the university experience more inviting, welcoming, and rewarding. Student Life’s programs—like Project Serve and the LINK program—teach students the importance of community, and the importance of extracurricular participation.
For students looking for something more than just an academic education, the department of student life offers a number of initiatives designed to better prepare students for life after university.
Jessica Carter is the co-ordinator of student engagement at the department of student life. Her work primarily deals with connecting students with the kinds of projects and initiatives that will prepare them for a more rewarding future.
“In a nutshell, I work with programs and students to engage them in various roles and programs, mostly in the leadership and mentorship realm,” explained Carter, in an interview with The Ontarion.
Now, student life is more than just the name of an important department within university administration, it’s also the name of a comprehensive program that aims to teach students the skills that future employers and professors look for.
“Student Life at Guelph is a newer program that the department of stuent life introduced a year ago, in October 2014,” said Carter. “This is a program that any student can engage in to get co-curricular credit to show their abilities to audiences like employers, grad schools, and internships.”
According to Carter, she often receives feedback from employers who insist that students are lacking in soft skills—skills beyond the realm of academia. However, she insists that this is simply untrue.
“Students have these skills, but it’s the way our minds have been coded to give evidence-based statements,” said Carter. “To an employer or grad school, they want more [from students] than ‘I have communication or leadership skills.’ They want specifics.”
Carter explains that Student Life at Guelph specifically works with students to develop skills in eight different categories of involvement. Though the program makes it easier for already involved students to develop their skills, students who aren’t residence advisors or peer helpers can also work on developing their soft skills.
Student Life at Guelph is run through Gryphlife. By visiting the website, students are able to sign up for a number of different workshops and events, in order to develop their skills.
“We’ve packaged what we call the core curriculum with bits and pieces of eight learning outcomes,” explained Carter. “So a student can take a smorgasbord of learning while they’re here.”
The process might seem daunting for some, which is precisely why Carter explains that students can work on their own, or with help from a peer helper.
“[Peer helpers] meet one-on-one with students, going through what a student has done,” said Carter. “The peers have a catalogue of experiences to match the students.”
Carter explains that the program offers students a number of different opportunities and experiences.
“It could be a leadership workshop on how to transfer your experience to a resume; it can be being a peer helper; it can be being a student staff member in housing,” said Carter. “It could be going to the Aboriginal Resource Centre for a session…it could be student advising, a conference, or [other] training.”
New opportunities are added all the time, and because the program is new, the department of student life plans on increasing the list of workshops and events as time moves forward. Though the program seems perfect for students in university, a simple question arises: What evidence is afforded to students to prove their skills?
“If a student finishes the core curriculum, they would have a full report to show that, yes, they’ve completed everything,” said Carter. “If a student completes the core curriculum, it’s also recorded on their co-curricular transcript.”
A co-curricular transcript is an extracurricular transcript that details a student’s involvement at the University of Guelph. To acquire the document, one must purchase it—much like one would purchase an academic transcript.
However, the co-curricular transcript is typically only available for elected members of student government, varsity athletes, or a certain handful of other students. What Student Life at Guelph provides, however, is the ability for all students to fill their co-curricular transcript.
“It’s about recognition, skill development acquisition, and then it’s about showcasing all of that after you graduate—or at any time, really,” explained Carter.
To Carter, the Student Life at Guelph program allows students to work on developing into being a more well-rounded student.
“There are lots of buzzwords going around [these days],” explained Carter. “[There are also] lots of resources on campus to give a well-rounded experience.”