Left to right: University of Calgary student leaders Alex Matheson, Sneha Srinivason, Stefana Pancic, Meaghan Hagerty, Zain Jinnah, Nolan Hill and John McDonald were photographed in the new Energy Environment Experiential Learning (EEEL) building.
View list of leadership initiativesSchulich School of Engineering student John McDonald can recite his favourite leadership quote by heart: “Mark Twain said: ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.’”
When she was volunteering in New Orleans, Bachelor of Health Sciences student Stefana Pancic saw a quotation from civil rights leader Howard Thurman that has stayed with her ever since. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
And first-year English and history student Nolan Hill likes to quote spiritual activist Marianne Williamson: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
These three University of Calgary students, along with others profiled in this story, are learning a lot about leadership and are developing their own perspectives on what it takes to make a difference in the world. They’re building skills in the classroom, through access to research and as part of a multitude of programs and activities on campus that offer real-world experience in leadership.
“It’s fair to say that the University of Calgary is out front among Canadian universities in our commitment to providing leadership opportunities to our students,” says President Elizabeth Cannon. “We are accelerating our students towards leadership in all areas—the arts, athletics, science, engineering, philanthropy, as well as in business—which helps us achieve our vision of becoming one of Canada’s top five research universities, grounded in innovative learning and teaching and fully integrated with the community of Calgary, by the university’s 50th anniversary in 2016.”
It’s a direction that is resonating with the community. Last fall, John Simpson, president and director of the CANA Group of Companies, and his family donated $2.5 million to the university’s student leadership initiative. The university’s Leadership and Student Engagement office is now believed to be the largest of its kind in Canada.
Former University of Calgary chancellor Joanne Cuthbertson and Charlie Fischer, former Board of Governors vice-chair, donated $1 million to create the Chancellor Cuthbertson Student Success Centre, a resource facility to support students in reaching their full potential. Cuthbertson also conceived of and helps support the new Scholars Academy, introduced last year to provide support to top undergraduate students.
And in virtually every faculty, community advisors provide guidance, mentorship and opportunities for real-world learning.
In the past year, a number of new leadership initiatives have been introduced: Camp LEAD for first-year students; the Common Reading Program; the Yamnuska Leadership Community; the Student Activities Fund; the Scholars Academy; the graduate students’ Leadership Circle; the First Year Advisory Group; and Senior Week. In November, the university hosted the Canadian Conference on Student Leadership.
These new initiatives join a stable of established programs such as: the University of Calgary Leadership Certificate program; the Emerging Leaders Program; the Sophomore Leadership program; Community Service Learning; leadership training at the Women’s Resource Centre; the Maier Student Leadership Program at the Schulich School of Engineering; the Co-Curricular Record; plus a raft of professional development and leadership opportunities at the faculty level.
In addition to these formal programs, students are developing leadership experience through their involvement in student politics. The Students’ Union, for example, has a budget of almost $15 million and oversees about 50 full-time and 160 part-time staff. In addition, there are more than 200 campus clubs, summer research programs, study abroad trips, conferences and competitions available to help students hone their leadership skills.
In the classroom, curriculum is constantly evolving to include leadership opportunities, such as group project work, presentations, field trips, co-op terms and internships. All these efforts have a very clear goal: to accelerate students’ development of those characteristics that will ensure they are prepared to step up as leaders in their community, making the world a better place.
Over the next few pages, you’ll meet students who are getting ready to take up that challenge. They are engaged, they are motivated and they are our next generation of leaders.
