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Student Life

Engage in personal development by building life skills, leadership skills and diversity and intercultural understanding through workshops offered by Student Affairs departments and other campus supports.

Certificates/Workshop Series that appear on the Laurier Experience Record help you gain skills and expand your knowledge on a wide range of topics. Register and complete the certificate/workshop series directly with the host department. Completed programs will automatically appear on your Laurier Experience Record by April.

 

Dollars & Sense Money Management

The Dollars & Sense Money Management Certificate is designed to enhance your money management skills and confidence. The certificate is based on four foundational components of financial knowledge:

  • budgeting
  • credit
  • investing
  • financial planning

Available in Brantford and Waterloo.

Diversity and Equity Certificate Program

The Diversity and Equity Certificate program was created to engage, challenge, and educate student participants on topics related to diversity. You must attend four to six workshops and have been actively engaged in each workshop to receive this certificate.

Available in Waterloo.

Financial Literacy Series

Students participate in three financial literacy workshops, including "Budgeting and the Basics", "Confidence with Credit" and "Informed Investing".  Each session lasts 1.5 hours and are spread out over three weeks.  Interaction and participation is expected of students as well as work to be completed on their own in relation to the next steps of the program and their own financial goals and plans.

Available in Waterloo.

First Year Leadership Program - Leadership Certificate

The First Year Leadership Program - Leadership Certificate is a certificate program offered to first-year students in Residence/LOCUS. The program prioritizes development in self-awareness, and community integration & participation as core elements of effective leadership. This certificate program is rooted in intentional reflection, where participants engage in four experiential workshops and submit reflections upon completion of each workshop.

By participating in this series of workshops, you will seek to understand your personal values, how those values define you as a person and leader, how your values guide your choices, and how choices define your leadership philosophy.

Available in Brantford and Waterloo.

Food Justice Certificate

The Food Justice Workshop Series offers 2-hour educational sessions aimed at increasing participants' connection to food. Topics include information about decolonization, improving food security, practicing healthy and culturally appropriate eating, building personal and community resiliency, addressing social inequities and mitigating environmental degradation and climate change.

Available in Brantford.

Intercultural Certificate

The Intercultural Certificate, run by Laurier International, provides modules covering cultural dynamics, privilege, cultural manifestations in everyday life, personal filters as a result of culture and intercultural awareness and communication.

The certificate requires you to attend all eight sessions. Each module is 80 minutes in length, totalling ten hours of learning to complete this certificate.

  • Introduction to Concepts of Culture
  • Continues Exploration of Culture
  • Introduction to Exploring One's Own Culture
  • Exploring Difference
  • Introduction to Intercultural Communication
  • Culture, Conflict and Confusion
  • Introduction to Cultural Adaptation
  • Lifelong Intercultural Learning

Available in Brantford and Waterloo.

Laurier Off-Campus Housing Workshops

Laurier's Off-Campus Housing program has developed workshops to provide students with tools to navigate the housing market. There is 3 interactive workshops: 

  1. Starting from Scratch
  2. Think Before You Sign
  3. House Hunting

Students must attend all 3 workshops to be recognized on the Laurier Experience Record.

Available in Brantford and Waterloo.

Penny Drops' Personal Finance Workshop Series

This workshop series provides Laurier students with the basic financial tools needed to successfully manage their money in their student and post-grad lives. Created in collaboration with the Credit Counselling Society, this workshop series provides accurate and reliable financial information to allow students to make their own informed decisions. Throughout this program, participants will get the chance to learn about budgeting, investing, taxes and the inner workings of the banking system.

Available in Waterloo

MyPD Advanced Professional Development (Academic Stream)

Residence Staff are leaders, mentors, and role models in Residence. Dons and Residence Education Advisors (REAs) create and support Residence communities and provide an atmosphere for students to prioritize their academic success and personal growth. By completing the Academic Stream of professional development, student staff are challenged to expand their understanding and competence surrounding academic success strategies within their professional development journey. This stream supports both the student staff’s academic journey, but also builds their toolbox for supporting students and their academic paths. Overall, student staff who complete the academic stream will gain greater knowledge and understanding of their role as a member of the Department of Residence, further understand ways to achieve success, and explore ways to ensure personal wellness in their role.

Available in Brantford and Waterloo

MyPD Advanced Professional Development (Aspiring Student Affairs Stream)

Residence Staff are leaders, mentors, and role models in Residence. Dons and Residence Education Advisors (REAs) create and support Residence communities and provide an atmosphere for students to prioritize their academic success and personal growth. By completing the Aspiring Student Affairs professional development stream offered, staff members are challenged to continue to learn more within their role, and explore opportunities both in Housing and Students Affairs in general. Overall, student staff who complete The Aspiring Student Affairs stream will gain greater knowledge and understanding of their role as a member of the Department of Residence, further understand ways to achieve success in their role, and explore future career opportunities and pathways into student affairs.

Available in Brantford and Waterloo

MyPD Advanced Professional Development (Competency Stream)

Residence Staff are leaders, mentors, and role models in Residence. Dons and Residence Education Advisors (REAs) create and support Residence communities and provide an atmosphere for students to prioritize their academic success and personal growth. By completing the Competency Stream of professional development, student staff are challenged to expand their understanding and competence to grow and support their students as well as their own development. Staff are provided with the opportunity to specialize in one of the following competencies while exploring their professional development:  Assessment, Evaluation and Story Telling; Empathy and Emotional Intelligence; Ethics, Community Standards, and Response; Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity; Human, Technology, and Organizational Resources; Leadership; and Student and Community Development. Overall, student staff who complete a competency stream will gain greater knowledge and understanding of their role as a member of the Department of Residence, further understand ways to achieve success in the six performance domains, and explore ways to ensure personal wellness in their role.

Available in Brantford and Waterloo

Wilfrid Laurier’s Sustainable Happiness Certificate

The Wilfrid Laurier Sustainable Happiness Certificate workshops are about sustainable happiness, well-being and reflection. In this certificate program we will explore how our happiness and well-being is intertwined with the well-being of other people and the ecosystems that sustain us. By participating in these highly engaging group sustainability exercises, group knowledge building and individual reflections, we will work to collaborate on local environmental and social issues. These hands-on workshops are geared to developing an appreciation and understanding of the natural environment, embrace knowledge from various cultures, and lead us to take action towards social and ecological justice.

In addition to the workshops each participant will receive a copy of the “Sustainable Happiness 100-day Journal”. Writing prompts in this journal are designed to help participants reflect on topics relating to sustainable life choices, well-being, education, relationships, and happiness.

Wilfrid Laurier’s Sustainable Happiness Certificate workshops are open to all students, faculty and staff. Participants who attend and participate in a minimum of 8 workshop and complete a personal sustainable activity as defined in the series of workshops offered throughout the academic year, will be eligible to add this experience to their Laurier Experience Record (LER)

Topics covered range from:

· Introduction to sustainable happiness and the Sustainable Development Goals
· Connecting with nature and well-being for all
· Sustainable and responsible consumption
· Mindfulness, gratitude, compassion and reciprocity
· Nature affluence
· Eco-anxiety and hope
· Sustainable campuses
· Sustainable projects (each participant is required to plan and carry out a sustainable happiness act or project)

Available in Brantford and Waterloo however, each 2-hour workshop will be offered on or near the Waterloo Campus, at different times, to accommodate various timetables and your ability to attend. We encourage you to join us creating a sustainably healthy and happy community at WLU!