Leadership Positions

As an Ascend Lead, you will meet weekly with your small group of first-year women, build community, plan small group activities, and talk about the shared experience of being women at BC. Boston College women have the opportunity to build a great experience. Be a part of helping our first-year women reach new heights!

All juniors and senior women are invited to be an Ascend Lead.

Ascend Leads commit to:

• Recruiting and selecting first-year participants (weekday evenings in October/November)
• Participating in a weekend long Leads Retreat (Friday-Sunday, October 16-18, 2020)
• Co-facilitating weekly 90 min. meeting with your group of first-year women (January - April)
• Planning 1-2 small group activities with your group of first-year women (between February and April)
• Participating in an all-program overnight with first-year women (Saturday-Sunday, January 23-24, 2021)
• Attending Friday Leads Summits (six total meetings throughout the year)
• Attending optional program-wide events throughout the spring semester (January - April)

Ascend is a program for first-year women through the Center for Student Formation where participants have an opportunity to meet new peers, engage in meaningful conversations about life at BC, and connect with upperclass women mentors. The program consists of weekly small group meetings (two leads, eight first-year women) facilitated by junior and senior women, small group activities, optional program-wide events, and one off-campus overnight. The program launches in the spring semester, but Leads will start preparing and training during fall semester.

For more information about the Ascend program, or if you have any questions, please contact ascend@bc.edu.

• A junior or senior man at BC. 
• A person who wants to (along with a co-captain) mentor a small group of eight freshmen men.
• Someone who is friendly, trustworthy, responsible, and authentic.

Must be available for a Captain’s Retreat on October 16 - 18.

If you are studying abroad, you must be on campus for the Spring 2021 semester. If you are currently abroad, you are eligible to apply and interview via Skype as long as you will be back at BC for Spring 2021.

All Captains should plan to attend the most important part of the program, the Captains' Retreat, on Friday, October 16 - Sunday, October 18. (If you have a conflict of any kind with that weekend, please STILL APPLY. We can discuss your conflict during your in-person interview. We are flexible and will work with you!)

Willingness to meet:

• Once every week in the Spring with your team to discuss life at BC
• Once a month for an outing with freshmen such as indoor skydiving, F-1 car racing, trampoline dodgeball—activities will be up to you (we will provide you with a team budget).
• Once a week for five weeks following the Captains' retreat. You'll be with seven other Captains and a young alum who was a Captain
• Once a month with the other League Captains during the Spring

As a Captain you will get to mentor and lead a small group of BC freshmen who will look up to you and seek your advice. You’ll benefit from being part of a group of 80 of the best junior and senior men at BC who have also chosen to serve as Captains. You will be venturing into Boston as well as connecting with faculty and staff mentors of your own.

Halftime leaders are responsible for giving a talk and facilitating small groups of participants. Halftime is a free weekend away to share your experiences with others, meet new people, and connect with BC faculty and staff. It will be the job of the leaders to help participants understand the themes of Halftime and talk about how to implement these themes into daily life at BC and beyond.

Lead applications are open to ALL students in the class of 2021 and the class of 2022 even if you have not been on Halftime.

Applications to lead Halftime in the 2020-2021 academic year are now being accepted on a rolling basis. You will be contacted for a 30 minute interview in the first few weeks of the fall semester and if selected you’ll be placed on the November, February or March Halftimes depending on your availability.

Fall 2020 Halftimes

Halftime 103: November 13 – November 15

Spring 2021 Halftimes

Halftime 104: February 12 – February 14
Halftime 105: March 26 – March 28

All Halftime Leads commit to the following:

1) Leading one full Halftime weekend.
2) Attending 5-6 training meetings with fellow Leads in the 6 weeks leading up to the actual retreat.
3) Participating in one half-day Lead Team Summit.

• If you've gone on Halftime before, you get to go again! 
• Have fun working alongside seven peers to go deeper into the 3 Key Questions and prepare to guide others.
• Work with the Center for Student Formation Staff on retreat preparation.
• Develop leadership skills in small group facilitation.
• Develop public speaking skills in talk preparation.
• Gain a solid grasp of the meaning of Halftime and how it fits into Jesuit education.

Questions? Contact halftime@bc.edu

A POD Leader is a junior or senior who works with a student partner in Reflection sections of some specific interdisciplinary core courses.

PODs (stands for Purposeful, Ongoing Discussion) are places where near-peer mentors help freshmen and sophomores tackle course material through intellectual conversations and reflections that help students connect content to their daily lives. In this way, PODs help Boston College fulfill its goals of producing "men and women for whom discernment is a habit" (A Pocket Guide to Jesuit Education). Leaders often become important mentors for those in their POD.

Four courses currently use the POD Leadership Program model:

• Our Ocean: Understanding & Protecting The Seas in the Wake of Climate Change – BIOL1706/ENVS1075 (a 6 credit Complex Problem core course, fulfills 3 Natural Science core credits, and 3 Social Science core credits)
  
  
• Citizenship, Immigration & Belonging in the United States: Can Education Save US? – HIST1715/SOCY1713 (a 6 credit Complex Problem core course, fulfills 3 Natural Science core credits, and 3 Social Science core credits)
  
  
• Global Implications of Climate Change - SOCY1501/EESC1501 (a 6 credit Complex Problem core course, fulfills 3 Natural Science core credits, and 3 Social Science core credits)
  
  
• Where on Earth: Foundations in Global History, Culture, and Society - INTL 2200 (a 6 credit International Studies Program foundations course, fulfills 3 History II core credits, 3 Social Science core credits, and the cultural diversity core credit)
  

POD Leaders are willing to serve as academic facilitators and mentors for a small group of students (around 15) enrolled in the course.

POD Leaders want to work with a student co-lead and be part of a group of 10 juniors and seniors who make up the POD Leader cohort.

POD Leaders must attend the regular class lectures. One evening per week each POD Leader (and their co-lead) directs their POD in discussion and/or activities related to the course material.

Students in the POD Leader cohort also meet once per week for their POD Leadership Seminar, which is designed to help POD Leaders be successful with their small group of freshmen or sophomores.

As a POD Leader you will get to be an academic and social mentor for a small group of freshmen or sophomore students. You will receive 3 credits (Pass/Fail) for attending interesting lectures on complex problems of global importance and running small, weekly group meetings to help freshmen engage with the material. You and your co-leader can help younger students have a fantastic academic experience while being intellectually challenged and stimulated by the course material yourself. 

The Stride Lead position is open to all rising juniors (Class of 2022) and seniors (Class of 2021) who want to help sophomores make roots at BC and grow in their self-knowledge and leadership ability. 

The Stride program is for the Fall 2020 semester only. 

As a Stride Lead, you will be both a mentor and a facilitator for your small group of eight sophomores. 

Stride Leads will:

• Move in early and attend a Lead Training on Friday, August 28
• Participate in a program-wide kick-off event prior to the first day of classes (Saturday, August 29)
• Attend 4 lectures, one every other week, from amazing faculty members on a variety of subjects
• Meet weekly with your co-ed group of eight sophomores
• Attend a weekend overnight experience about leadership and vocation called Halftime