L E A D E R S H I P & S T U D E N T E N G AG E M E N T O F F I C E

u c a l g a r y. c a / l e a d e r s h i p

Sophomore Leadership
Program
Participant Handbook
2016 - 2017
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Welcome!
The Sophomore Leadership Program (SLP) is a leadership program
designed to support the success and development of University of
Calgary students beyond their first year. Coordinated through the
Leadership and Student Engagement Office, this program guides
students in career development, leadership development and service
learning.
As a participant you are required to complete a number of components
throughout both semesters. Requirements encourage you to engage
in the campus community in a way that helps to develop your skills.
Some of the requirements include finding and meeting with a mentor,
attending specific Leadership on Demand workshops, attending SLP
community building events and completing a reflection on the year.
The SLP experience is all about determining what you are able to take
from the information you receive and the experiences that you have.
Consider the ways in which you are looking to develop your personal
leadership and life skills and then determine the ways in which you can
use this program to help you get there.
As you go through this program, you will have the support of your Peer
Helpers and Leadership Ambassador. Do not hesitate to come to us if
you have any questions or concerns.
We are thrilled to be a part of your student experience and we are
looking forward to a wonderful year with you in SLP!
Ashley Morrison | Sophomore Leadership Program,
Leadership Ambassador
lead@ucalgary.ca, 403.210.7294
Victoria Hirsche | Coordinator, Leadership & Training Programs
vlhirsch@ucalgary.ca |

Program Components

Core Requirements:
Attend the meet and greet on Sept. 15, 2016
Attend the fall retreat on Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2016
Attend the winter retreat on Jan. 14, 2017
Attend the Leadership Gala on Apr. 2, 2017
Complete a reflection for the year & submit to your
peer helpers (Be creative!) - Apr. 7, 2017
You will need to send an entire list of
completed requirements and your reflection
to your peer helpers so please keep track
of dates!
Senior Leadership Pillar:
The requirements under this pillar
hone the leadership abilities
participants have previously begun
to develop.
Hold a senior leadership role
on campus (e.g., Orientation
Leader, Peer Helper, club
executive, etc.)
Attend at least two of the
required program-wide social
events scheduled throughout
the year (these events will be
determined and announced in
advance)
Attend two workshops per semester; at
least one Leadership on Demand workshop
per semester. Others are offered through
various other offices.
Attend one Peer Helper organized social per term

Career Exploration Pillar:

The requirements under this pillar develop skills that will set you up for
professional success.
Meet with mentor at least three times throughout the year.
Make and attend a Career Appointment and have at least two of
your resume, cover letter, and/or CV reviewed by Career Services

 Seek out and attend a networking event (must be in addition to

Networking 101 offered by Career Services, as that will be offered at
the SLP Winter Retreat)
Attend a Career Services Workshop
Participants will be asked to find and approach their own mentor,
as this is an important skill throughout ones professional
career. Participants will be educated on how to approach
a possible mentor and how to develop win-win
relationships with mentors. Peer Helpers are
experienced in this area and will be available
to assist with this process.
Service Learning Pillar:
The requirements under this pillar
contribute to the community
beyond the campus and
emphasizes teamwork skills such
as communication, trust, and the
appreciation of diversity.
With your group develop a
plan (see handbook for guidelines)
for a Service Learning project that
will take between 10 - 12 hours per
person (keep in mind the 10-12 hours
includes any planning or preparation
required so be sure to keep your plan
manageable within that timeframe)
Submit your plan to the SLP Leadership
Ambassador by October 28, 2016
Once your plan has been approved, complete
your Service Learning project

Participate in a reflection session facilitated by
your Peer Helpers after the project concludes
We encourage you to reach out to your Peer Helpers and Leadership
Ambassadors with questions as you plan your project. They are a
great resource and are here to support you!
If any of these requirements are unclear please reach out to your Peer
Helpers or check D2L for further resources!

Important Dates
Submit your Service Learning Project Plan: Oct. 28, 2016
Winter Retreat: Jan. 14, 2017
Leadership Exchange: Feb. 6, 2017
Leadership Gala: Apr. 2, 2017
Reflections & points due: Apr. 7, 2017
Check-in Dates (with Peer Helpers)
Check-in #1: Nov. 10, 2016
Check-in #2: Mar. 1, 2017
Check-in #3: Apr. 1, 2017
SLP Wide Socials (fall semester)
Outrun the Stigma: Oct. 16, 2016
Trick-or-Eat: Oct. 31, 2016
Keep an eye out for more!
Last Lecture Talks
Oct. 5, 2016
Nov. 2, 2016

Mentorship
Principles of Mentoring
Mentors lead by example in everything they do. Mentees
learn both directly and indirectly from their mentors, by asking
questions, listening and even watching. Mentors know that even if
theyre not speaking directly with their Mentee, they are still sending
messages and providing opportunities for learning. This means that
there is plenty of information that you are able to gather from your
mentor throughout the year!
Many of the potential mentors that you will be contacting will have
already experienced enormous success in their area and achieved many
personal and professional goals. As the mentee, you should accept your
mentors input and advice in the spirit in which it is offered and regularly
thank your mentor for their generosity. Your mentor will be volunteering
their time and talents to you and in return they enjoy many intangible
benefits.

Mentoring relationships are built on honesty and trust. Confidentiality

is the cornerstone of the mentoring relationship. Your relationship with
your mentor will build a sense of commitment and trust when you and
your mentor keep the information and ideas you share just between
you! Both you and your mentor will appreciate working with someone
with personal integrity and who does what they say they will do
someone they can trust.
The mentoring relationship requires regular communication
to be successful. This means that you will want to keep
frequent and consistent face to face meetings, telephone
conversations and/or email exchanges. Through
regular conversation, mentors and mentees from a
strong relationship and are more likely to achieve
the goals that they have set together.

Roles and
Responsibilities
of Mentors
Your mentor/buddy will support you by:
Being a sounding board
Sharing their experiences, knowledge and skills
Challenging your ideas to encourage growth
Being a source of accountability
Giving feedback
Supporting you in your first year and empowering you to find your
own answers
Encouraging and inspiring you
Assisting you in finding resources, information or solutions
If asked, provide advice

Your Role as the Mentee

Make sure that you have an agenda for your meetings.

Come to the meeting organized
Complete background research on your career path
Let your mentor know what you wish to accomplish
Be specific about your request for information
Be an active listener
Create a list of questions that you want to ask your mentor
Be professional in your communications with your mentor

Your mentor is there to talk to you about your university

experience and your career path but they are not
there to talk about your personal or academic
problems.
The best mentoring relationship is one that
benefits both the mentor and the mentee so
share the information and connections that
you have that may help your mentor.
Your mentor is a very busy person so
make sure that you express your gratitude
to them throughout the year. If you are
comfortable with the mentoring relationship
that you have developed, consider extending
the relationship beyond this year!

Remember: It is important to realize that

you need to make your own decisions for
your own growth!
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What Defines Mentorship?

Mentorship is: voluntary; trust-based; mutually productive and
beneficial; active in communication; growth- and discovery-oriented;
and focused on clearly defining and achieving the mentees personal
and/or professional goals. In short, mentors provide support and
empowerment for mentees to achieve something important to them.
Keep in mind the following four principles of mentoring:
A mentor/A buddy is a role model
Mentors/buddies lead by example. Students learn both
directly and indirectly from their mentors by asking
questions, listening, and oftentimes simply watching.
Mentors/buddies know that even when theyre
not speaking, they are sending a message and
providing opportunities for learning.
Mentoring is freely given and freely received
Mentors/buddies volunteer their time
and talents and in return enjoy intangible
benefits. The most effective mentors have
achieved many personal and professional
successes and are willing to share their
experiences with someone else. Students
should express gratitude and regularly thank
their mentors/buddies for their contribution
of time and expertise.
Mentoring relationships are built on honesty
and trust.
Confidentiality is crucial to this relationship.
When there is mutual respect they build a sense
of trust in each other and commitment to their
relationship. Both parties in this relationship should
appreciate working with someone they can trust.
Mentoring requires constant communication
A successful mentoring relationship is characterized by frequent and
consistent face-to-face meetings, telephone conversations, and/or the
exchange of emails. Through dedicated and uninterrupted discussion,
everyone forms a strong relationship and have an increased chance of
achieving the goals they set together.

Mentor/Buddy Agreement
Use these guiding questions to develop a mentoring agreement, which
is the easiest and most effective way of setting the ground rules for your
mentoring relationship:

Who will arrange our meetings?

How often and where will we meet?
How long will our meetings last?
What happens if one of us cant attend a scheduled meeting?
How and when will we communicate between meetings?
What limitations, if any, do we want to put in place for our
communications?
What level of confidentiality do we need?
How will we keep our discussions confidential?
What are individual and joint goals for this relationship?
How will we reach our relationship goals?
How will we measure our progress towards our goals?
What happens if we get off track?

Goal Setting
SMART Goals are a tool to help you achieve all that you are striving for in
their first year of university. They are used to set objectives and design
outcomes. Setting SMART goals with your mentor/buddy is one of your
core points.
Specific:
It is important when you are setting goals to make them as specific as
possible, as a specific goal has a much higher chance of accomplishment
than a general one. A specific goal is a goal that will answer the Five
W questions. It will tell you WHAT is expected, WHY it is important,
WHO is involved, WHERE is it going to happen and WHICH attributes are
important.
Measurable:
In order for a goal to be SMART, it is important that you have some sort
of criteria or way of measuring your progress while pursuing your goal.
This helps with motivation and staying on track.
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Attainable:
When setting a goal, it should be something that you feel is achievable.
The goal should be challenging, but also realistic.
Relevant:
When picking goals, make sure that they matter to you. You will be more
likely to try and accomplish the goal if it is significant for you. Often,
relevant goals will be in support or alignment of other goals.
Time-Bound:
Give your goals a time frame. This will motivate you and help you focus
your efforts on completing the goal before the deadline.

SMART Goal Examples

Typical goal: I want to make friends
SMART goal: I will put myself in lots of situations where I can meet
new people so that I can expand my community. To do this I think
it is reasonable for me to attend two SLP Socials per semester, and
attend an event with the Quidditch Club every two weeks. Meeting
new people through activities I enjoy will help me build a comunity
and have fun in university outside of the classroom. At the end of
the fall semester I will re-assess how this goal is going and whether I
want to change it up for the winter semester.
Typical goal: I want to get involved
SMART goal: I want to volunteer and give back to the community. I
will sign up for a UCalgaryCares program through the LSE over Reading Week. I am passionate about learning the root causes of poverty
and helping support people experiencing homelessness, so I will
sign up for the Calgary program that works with the Mustard Seed.
After the Reading Week program I will consider another opportunity
to give back to the community.
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Service Learning

The service learning project is an opportunity for you and your SLP
group to work together to create an unique learning experience. This
is where you are able to come together and find a common social
issue that you are all passionate about. The goal is then
to engage in the issue to better understand it and
mobilize to volunteer. Being a leader in our modern
world requires that you have an awareness of
social issues and this activity will help you
to understand approaching these issues.
Additionally, it will help you to change
your perspective on leadership to look
at how you can influence people
around you. You will learn to consider
the consequences of different
organizational and societal actions,
which can help you to look at your
leadership choices in a different light.

Additional
Resources
Professional Email Etiquette

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Keep your emails concise but thorough

Long emails can be difficult to read
however write as much as is necessary to
get the point across
Break up long emails into sections of different
ideas
Read and re-read your emails before sending them
Make sure you read the emails you are sent very well
You do not want to ask a question that has already been
answered in a previous email
Reply to emails promptly (24 -48 hours)
Make sure that you save important emails in your inbox
Complete action items required in emails promptly

Professional Dress
Mostly, you will need to dress business casual. When in doubt as to the
appropriateness of your dress, err on the side of caution and consult
others for their opinions.
Your Online Image
As a leader, it is important to maintain a
professional presence online.
Review your accounts on social media
platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.)
to make sure that its an appropriate
image. Be aware that what you put
on the Internet is in public domain,
regardless of your privacy settings,
and that while nobody expects you
to be completely professional 24/7,
there can be future consequences in
promoting an image of yourself that
is inappropriate. We encourage you to
consider how your social media impacts
your personal brand.
SLP Facebook Group Rules

Use the Facebook groups walls as
a place for relevant discussions and pieces of
interest.
Keep all posts related to requirements, leadership, and
involvement opportunities
Keep language appropriate, respectful, and inclusive
Try to refrain from posting personal comments and questions that
would be better sent to your Peer Helpers
Please refrain from posting any advertisements
The Leadership Ambassador and Peer Helpers reserve the right to
delete any post they deem irrelevant or inappropriate

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Leadership & Student Engagement Office

MSC 293
ucalgary.ca/leadership | lead@ucalgary.ca

Leadership & Student Engagement Office

MSC 293

If you have any questions, concerns or dont know how

ucalgar
to find any.ca/leadership
answer or just want to talk to someone about
the program please
dont hesitate to connect with us!
lead@ucalgar
y.ca
Ashley is the SLP Leadership Ambassador and can be
contacted at lead@ucalgary.ca
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