This semester marks the pilot stage of myInvolvement, a web-based tool designed to showcase workshops, events, and volunteer opportunities available to McGill students. The project provides a way for students to gain awareness of extra-curricular activities and for faculty and staff to track students’ involvement. It also allows initiatives taking place on campus to publicize their events. 

Tool to capture involvement for all students

MyInvolvement gives students access to information about extra-curricular activities by providing tools to search, register, and track participation in extra-curricular activities. It also provides students with a Co-Curricular Record of Involvement (CCRI) from McGill, which is an official document that provides a summary of students’ extra-curricular activities to go along with their academic transcripts.

Lina Di Genova, who is responsible for myInvolvement and is the manager of student assessment for McGill Student Services, said that this initiative fills the need for a more supportive campus environment where students can recognize the contributions they make to campus life.

“After looking at years of survey data, we wanted to make sure that such a tool could capture involvement for all students—undergraduate or graduate—and in the future, create spaces for all different student initiatives to have the equal opportunity to get out there in the community,” Di Genova said.

MyInvolvement assists faculty and staff in promoting activities that students are eligible to participate in. Di Genova outlined the vision for the initiative, which is to encompass the maximum possible number of organizations across the university and to allow these groups to present themselves from one accessible, consolidated source for students.

“We wanted it to grow to allow different organizations across McGill to capture involvement in a way that was meaningful for their organization,” Lina said.

Anurag Dhir, community engagement coordinator of McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office, said it is important for students to be recognized for their involvement in the community within and beyond McGill.

“The fact that there is now a tool that helps collect this information as well as promote all engagement opportunities is a great initiative,” Dhir said. “The success in its application will be based on how well it reflects the diversity of engagement opportunities available through McGill.”

Getting involved 

Because MyInvolvement is currently in its pilot stage, students have the opportunity to voice their opinions and be a part of consultation aimed at improving the initiative. According to Di Genova, 23 organizations currently belong to the program and over 1,500 students are using it.

Students can find out which organizations are using the tool through myInvolvement’s website. A link to the site will be added to Minerva in the future.

“We have received really positive feedback,” Di Genova said. “Students who have participated through Community Engagement Day have started to suggest activities that they want. We’re going to include some of it, so it’s a neat feature that students have intuitively started to think about all these other [involvement] opportunities.”

Laura Couteille, U0 Arts, said myInvolvement helped her make sense of the information given to students who are new to McGill.

“During the first few weeks of school, there were so many pamphlets and events and groups that it was overwhelming, but MyInvolvement’s easy-to-navigate Organizations Directory helps make sense of it all,” Couteille said.

Kaelan Forgues, U0 Management, expressed a similar sentiment.

“Being engaged with myInvolvement has brought me access to opportunities that I would have originally been interested in but not aware of,” Forgues said.

Growing initiative at McGill

According to Di Genova, the initiative will continue to grow as the extent of services offered expands.

“We wanted the co-curricular record to reflect the McGill student life, so we’re expanding it to include workshop training, professional development activities, volunteer opportunities,” Di Genova said. “It will keep growing and is definitely something to keep an eye on.”