About SELECT Program

Beginning September 2011, under the leadership of Dr. David Wilkinson, we began piloting an exciting new opportunity for undergraduate students at McMaster Engineering. Built on the core values of community, trust and empowerment, SELECT brings the alumni, colleagues, faculty and students together to empower Engineering students' growth in personal, group/team and community leadership. McMaster Engineering students have played major roles in the conception, development, research and implementation of this program. Ongoing consultations with our students and friends of Faculty of Engineering are reflected in the targeted design of SELECT program components (specific relevance to McMaster Engineering understanduate students).

SELECT is a two-tier, module-based program designed specifically for Engineering students who work towards bringing positive change in their various team environments. The hands-on training exercises and real-time input from our facilitators (Engineering alumni and colleagues) help students receive fresh challenges, new insights, awareness and confidence to take on new challenges in their current university experience and future careers.

SELECT members come from all streams of Engineering and BTech programs, from all academic levels. Their extracurricular involvements will range from serving as executives to general members in over 20 different student organisations in McMaster Engineering. These include the McMaster Engineering Society (MES), McMaster chapter of Engineers Without Border (EWB), departmental clubs, the McMaster Solar Car Project and many more. SELECT supports its members to take resources to their respective clubs and form new partnerships, all the while SELECT members themselves develop skills and relationships in an environment that promotes collaboration, mentorship and personal development.

Each Tier of SELECT program is recognised by certificate at the completion of requirements. More details can be found on our 2012-13 webpage: macengleadership.org

Eligibility and Certificate Requirements?

Tier 1: Open to all registered McMaster Engineering undergraduate students. Completion of all modules and evaluation based on extracurricular involvement leads to the SELECT Leadership Training Certificates.?

Tier 2: Open to those who completed Tier 1 (and/or senior level students with significant training/experience) and have 1+ years of volunteer experience. All participants must be committed to a meaningful leadership project for the duration of Tier 2. For direct entry to Tier 2, eligibility and prep work determined on a case-by-case basis. Completion of all modules (inc. project work) and evaluation (inc. exit interview) leads to SELECT Tier 2 Leadership Certificate.

Program Registration

Application form, orientation, and deposit are required to confirm your registration in SELECT. Due to the interactive nature of workshops, each module session has a maximum capacity of 16-20 seats in Tier 2, and 20-24 seats in Tier 1. You will be assigned to a set of session dates - If there are schedule conflicts, you must discuss them with our Program Coordinator in advance. Complete registration will be required before the first module in order to receive program materials.

SELECT is designed to complement your leadership development, practiced through your extracurricular involvements. Each co-hort of SELECT members commit to leadership development endeavours throughout the year. Because of this, SELECT modules are not offered as stand-alone workshops open to public. SELECT modules are also designed to fit in a certain sequence, with an expected amount of facilitators' time / attention given to each student.  

Aside from participation in SELECT program as a registered member, an MES group / club interested in a particular leadership development topic has two options: 1. MES group / club can designate one or two of its members to participate in SELECT to receive training throughout the year, especially in preparation of assuming senior leadership roles, and bring the resources to the group / club; 2. MES group / club can request a tailored session to be provided to its members, likely in partnership with senior executives of the group / club. Please contact the Program Coordinator to discuss the details.