Becoming a leader at UM

For someone exploring student leadership for the first time, awareness of opportunities is the first and biggest hurdle. At the University of Manitoba’s Student Experience and Development (SEAD) office, staff are focused on bridging that initial gap! You may have questions, like “where can I get involved on campus?” and “how can I start taking on leadership roles?” Those questions are exactly what SEAD is here to answer!

SEAD’s goal is to help connect students with the right people and places to get more involved in the UM community. Often, students limit themselves to academics and miss out on the enormous variety of experiences that can help them develop in all areas of their lives. When students think of leadership on campus, they usually think of executive roles in student groups, but that’s only one example. Geoffrey Pagcaliwagan, a coordinator at SEAD, is encouraging more students to get involved and rethink what “leadership” means to them. “How I see it is that leadership shouldn’t be associated with a position. It should be kind of like a set of practices that you do.”

One of SEAD’s pillars is to be a centre of knowledge about the opportunities for involvement across UM so that any student can come in and be pointed in the right direction. Whether you have specific ideas or don’t know where to start, SEAD can suggest resources and groups on campus to meet your interests and needs. These opportunities could include participation in student clubs and associations, volunteering, one-off workshops, or a workshop series. Groups and workshops can centre around a variety of topics, from academic programs to wellness and cultural identity.

Pagcaliwagan emphasises how SEAD can help create a “customised” experience for students, based on the different routes students can take to get involved and the different levels of commitment. “I think of it as kind of like a spectrum,” he says. “There are many alternatives to achieving the same thing […] It doesn’t necessarily have to be like one hundred hours or zero. It could be like two hours, and then if you find that enjoyable, it can be another two hours.”

One of the programs SEAD offers to help students on an individual level is Peer Involvement Advising. You can set up a one-on-one appointment to discuss your unique interests and goals for getting involved in leadership. Tyler Big George is a Peer Involvement Advisor and explains what advising can look like: “So, the typical appointment if a student doesn’t exactly know what they’re looking for will be me showing them the different resources to help them get involved […] and I’ll talk to them about why those are important.” What are those resources? Big George highlights the Experience Catalogue, where you can find a list of student groups to join; the Experience Record, where you can track your previous involvement at U of M; and different student group pages online, such as those on social media.

Have you considered getting involved in new experiences and leadership roles in university? Get in contact with SEAD! There are a few ways they could lend you a hand. If you haven’t visited Student Affairs’ new Connection Desk on the first floor of UMSU University Centre, check it out and they can get you connected with SEAD! Alternatively, you can email the office directly at sead@umanitoba.ca, or visit their office at 225 UMSU University Centre. Want to know more first? Check out the main SEAD website or the Peer Involvement Advising page.

Ashlin Daly, Student Writer, Student Affairs