What are EEOs?

Enriched educational opportunities (EEOs) are experiential learning opportunities that have been vetted by McGill Faculties to assure that the learning outcomes are of significant value for students.

Who organizes EEOs?

EEOs may be administered by McGill units or they may be with government, NGOs, or companies outside the university.

The sponsoring McGill Faculty (or, exceptionally, another administrative unit) is responsible for:

1. vetting the quality of the opportunity before students participate, and
2. validating completion after the EEO has finished.

What are the requirements for EEOs to be recognized on the CCR?

In order to be recognized on the co-curricular record, EEOs must meet the following eligibility guidelines:

• Although the EEO may be administered outside the university, the opportunity must be vetted and students’ participation must be verified by a McGill Faculty (or, exceptionally, another administrative unit).
• The EEO must have a learning component.
• The EEO is not a degree requirement, required as part of an academic course, or recognized on the academic transcript.
• EEOs are not traditional “employment opportunities” (jobs), though students may be financially compensated through a stipend.

How do students know which EEOs are eligible for recognition?

It is up to each Faculty to define which opportunities they will recognize. To make participation and recognition equitable, this information should be posted publicly on the Faculty’s website.

Please note: although the Scholarships and Student Aid Office (SSAO) offers some needs-based bursaries for qualifying students who participate in EEOs, students should never be asked to disclose financial need to their Faculty; nor is recognition on the CCR dependent on financial need. This is another reason that it is important to create clear eligibility criteria and to publish it so that any student in the Faculty can decide to participate and receive recognition.

What will appear on a students' CCR after they participate in an EEO?

1. The name of the experience 
   1. This is often customized for each student to include both the category of EEO (i.e. "Research Internship," "Field Placement," etc.) and the specific topic or location (i.e. "Internship with Council on Foreign Relations in Washington DC, USA").
2. The sponsoring McGill Faculty (or, exceptionally, another administrative unit)
3. The start and end dates for the EEO
4. A brief description of the opportunity

The CCR description will be different from what is written on promotional materials or a job posting; CCR descriptions are meant to explain the opportunity to an outside audience, such as an employer or admissions councilor. They also provide students with language they can use for their CV, cover letter, or interview. CCR descriptions for EEOs are usually 2 to 5 sentences and explain:

• what this opportunity is
• what do participants do
• what do participants learn

While this field can be customized for each student, we recommend that you group EEOs into a few categories.

We are available to help you craft and edit descriptions so that they are consistent with other
opportunities that appear on the CCR. Here is an example to get you started:
Experience Name: Herbarium Volunteer
Sponsoring Organization: McGill University Herbarium
CCR Description: Volunteers are students who assist in the daily operations of the McGill Herbarium, a
research museum currently housed within the Plant Science Department that contains over 140,000
dried plant specimens collected over the past 200 years. Duties include mounting (gluing),
repairing, annotating, and filing specimens according to curatorial standards. Volunteers also
photograph specimens and transfer images to an online portal so that label information can be
transcribed to the herbarium database. Student volunteers gain skills and experience that could be
applied in a variety laboratory and museum settings.

I am a McGill staff member who tracks our department’s EEOs. What do I need to do?

Here is a step-by-step timeline of the EEO process:

To offer EEOS

• Consult with the myInvolvement staff to develop your own criteria for what experiential learning opportunities you will recognize, including establishing learning outcomes and writing the description that will appear on students’ CCRs.
  • Contact us at myinvolvement@mcgill.ca to schedule a meeting.
  • We encourage you to think of “categories” that you could group EEOs into that would have similar higher-level learning outcomes. This way, you do not have to write different learning outcomes for every opportunity.
• Develop a process for students to apply to you to have their EEO recognized before they participate.
• Develop a process for verifying students’ participation after the opportunity has finished.
  • Some faculties require either a paper, a reflection document, a meeting, or a letter of reference from the EEO supervisor.

1. The semester before the EEO

• The student should apply to your office so that they are sure the opportunity is eligible and that you are aware that they will be participating.

2. The semester of the EEO

• There are no action items for your unit during the semester in which the EEO takes place, unless your unit requires one.

3. The semester after the EEO

• Students must provide whatever documentation you require in order to verify their participation.
• Fill out our EEO template file below and submit it to the CCR office.

How do I fill out the EEO template file?

Send the completed file to us by completing the CCR Event Attendance / Volunteer List Submission Form. Do not email the completed file to us, as this violates McGill IT’s information security guidelines.

What we need from you: 

• Student information: This includes first name, last name, ID number or McGill email address.
• EEO information: This can be customized for each student to include the title, location, topic and tasks/description.
• Date Range: The start date and end date of the opportunity.
• Your contact: The name, title, and contact information for the staff member who has validated the opportunity.

To facilitate the submission of your EEO opportunity, you can consult the EEO List template (downloadable excel file) and modify according to your EEO opportunity.