Staff members are available upon request to advise students regarding program requirements and other matters.
Mentorship is an excellent opportunity for GELs to receive guidance on careers, academic decisions, personal growth, and development as engineering leaders. Electing to be paired with an industry mentor is an optional but recommended facet of the GEL program (open to both GEL1s and GEL2s). Early in the fall semester, GEL staff will contact students about mentorship program participation. If paired with a mentor, GELs are expected to be courteous and responsible about meeting with their mentor (however frequently you agree to meet).
GEL is a cohort-based leadership development experience made up of a specific set of required short courses. If a GEL knows that a scheduling conflict will jeopardize his or her ability to enroll in one of the required courses, they should immediately raise this issue with their GEL advisor or the course instructor. Exceptions are not typically granted. Students should not wait until after the start of a term to raise questions about conflicts for that term.
GELs should refer to the specific syllabi from each of the GEL short courses (6.911/6.913, 6.912, 6.910 A and 6.910B, 6.914, and leadership elective) to ascertain grading policies for each course. GELs should raise any questions about grading policies with the individual course instructor(s).
GELs should refer to the specific syllabi from each of the short courses ((6.911/6.913, 6.912, 6.910 A and 6.910B, 6.914, and leadership elective) to know the attendance policies for each course. As GEL is a cohort and team-based development experience, attendance is very important to students’ success in GEL.
Because Engineering Leadership Lab is an interactive, team-based experience, absences are detrimental both to individual students and to their teams. GELs must make every effort to attend all ELLs. In the event of exceptional circumstances, GELs must email ell-absent@mit.edu and CC their Team Coach in advance of any missed ELL. Please refer to the 6.911 syllabus for further details about ELL attendance.
Performance assessment feedback is a critical aspect of the GEL program’s leadership development approach. GELs are routinely assessed during ELLs (6.911/6.913) and must submit a self-reflection any time they receive an assessment. GELs will submit their reflections via the GEL Student Website. Given the uniqueness of this feedback-based approach compared to other classes at MIT, some new GEL students may take time to become fully accustomed to it. As such, GELs are encouraged to discuss the feedback process with their team leaders, their advisor, or the instructors.
Participants who have been accepted into the GEL Year Two cohort will become part of the program’s Student Leadership Organization. The GEL 2s hold leadership positions and play a major role in the execution of the overall program. GEL 2 students develop their leadership capabilities by leading and mentoring the GEL 1 cohort.