Student Partners Program

What are the preferred ways to communicate and work. Be mindful that partnership requires collaboration and not just assigning tasks. The traditional staff/student dynamic should not be expected. Create an environment where students lead and take initiative, express concerns, and let it be known that expectations are not being met. 

Discuss how and if the project’s findings will be disseminated. Whose name will go first on articles and other publications. Discuss how and where documents and other information will be saved and stored. What can be included on each team member’s CV and what can be done to bolster each other. 

Discuss the short and long-term goals of the project as a group and personal objectives. What exactly do both sides want to get out of the partnership. Create a mutual and shared set of expectations, protect them, and revisit them if need be.  

Encouraging genuine collaboration, we foster a collective effort where students, faculty, and staff collaborate to co-create meaningful contributions to teaching and learning projects. Recognizing the importance of diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences, we firmly believe that collaboration enriches the quality of the work undertaken. 

Our program is committed to cultivating an inclusive environment. Actively promoting participation from individuals of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities—including students, faculty, and staff—we emphasize the significance of equity and diversity in shaping educational practices.  

Our objective is to empower all participants—students, faculty, and staff—to actively participate in the teaching and learning process. Through purposeful partnerships, we strive to give students the agency to contribute to the intellectual direction of projects, fostering a sense of ownership and empowerment.  

We are dedicated to maintaining a commitment to excellence in teaching and learning. The program seeks projects that have the potential to make meaningful contributions to enhancing educational practices and knowledge. We prioritize rigorous scholarship, innovation, and an ongoing commitment to improvement.  

Ensuring transparency in all processes and procedures, we prioritize clear communication. From the selection of projects to reporting outcomes, our focus is on making expectations, goals, and timelines easily understandable for all stakeholders, fostering trust and accountability.  

Students can participate in the SPP in two ways: they can propose a project or they can be hired to a faculty/staff-proposed project. Projects run in either the Fall/Winter term (September-April) or the Spring/Summer term (May-August). The hours that students will be expected to contribute vary from project to project, but will generally fall between 5-10 hours a week. Students are paid for their work throughout the duration of their project (see Admin and Compensation section for details regarding pay).  

Any McMaster student is eligible to submit their own teaching and learning project for inclusion in the Student Partner Program. Please note that while students are able and encouraged to take the lead on projects they submit, for administrative reasons students submitting projects for consideration must do so in collaboration with a faculty or staff member. If you need assistance identifying a faculty or staff partners, MacPherson Institute staff may be able to help (see the Admin and Compensation section for details).  

Any McMaster student is eligible to be a Student Partner. Undergraduate students who graduate in April are eligible to work on projects funded in the Spring-Summer terms (May-August). Students who worked on a project previous can extend their contract on the same project even if they graduated. If you are interested in applying as a Student Partner, ensure to read project descriptions carefully as some projects indicate preferences for students with specific backgrounds, skills, and/or education levels. For more detailed information, see FAQ: Student Partner applications.

Students may also submit projects in collaboration with a faculty/staff member at McMaster University. The SPP cannot advertise student-proposed projects to potential faculty partners. Instead, interested students might consider approaching a faculty/staff member and seeing if that they member would be interested in working with them on the project should it be accepted for the SPP. If you are a student with a project idea and are unsure to whom you should reach out, please connect with SPP staff (mi_sap@mcmaster.ca) who may be able to suggest faculty and staff who would be a good fit for your project idea.

Any McMaster student, faculty, or staff member can apply for an SPP grant. Please note that student project leads will require funds to be transferred through their faculty or staff partner’s departmental account.  

 Once projects have been reviewed and successful applicants have been notified, applications for Student Partners will open on the MacPherson website (in March for the Summer term and July for the fall/winter term). A brief description of each project will be listed, and students will be able to apply for up to three projects using a form linked on the Student Partner Program website. 

Student Partner applications will be sent to the corresponding project teams, and they will arrange interviews or further meetings as they see fit. Project teams will hire student partners directly. Successful Student Partner applicants will be notified by the end of April (for the summer term) and the end of August (for the fall/winter term). 

Once students are selected through the program, it is the responsibility of the faculty or staff partner’s department to issue offer letters and register payroll through MOSAIC, as well as to conduct other relevant administrative duties. 

Current rates of compensation for student partners are as follows: 

• Undergraduate student partners: $17/hour ($19.50 when fringe benefits added) 
• Graduate student partners: $21/hour ($23 when fringe benefits added) 

Student partners should be expected to be paid on a biweekly basis (once every two weeks). 

For students interested in applying for an SPP grant with their own project, please be advised that due to administrative reasons, grant money may only be transferred to a faculty or staff member. For this reason, students are required to apply with a faculty or staff partner to assist in manage finances. 

If students have trouble finding a faculty or staff lead, the MacPherson Institute may be able to assist. Please contact us via email at mi_sap@mcmaster.ca if you require assistance with finding a faculty/staff partner. 

Student partnerships in education are broad, but here are some selected project types. For guidance or questions, reach out to our team at mi_sap@mcmaster.ca  

• Collaborative Resource Development: Engage students in creating and refining teaching materials. 
• Collaborative Reading List Development: Partner with students to select relevant course literature. 
• Student-Led Teaching Evaluation: Incorporate student feedback in assessing instructional methods. 
• Co-designed Assessment Criteria: Develop grading standards in collaboration with students. 
• Educational Research Partnerships: Involve students in studies on learning and teaching practices. 
• Discipline-Specific Research Collaboration: Engage students in field-related research projects. 
• Curriculum Development Consultation: Seek student input on course content and structure. 
• Peer-Assisted Learning Programs: Implement student-led academic support initiatives. 
• Student Experience Enhancement: Collaborate with students to improve overall educational quality. 

This document is intended as a guide to follow during the first meeting of your partnership. The points listed are not exhaustive but are intended to get you started. 

First Meeting Checklist 

Dr. Antonio Dos Santos of the MacPherson Institute has conversations with student, staff, and faculty guests about the “Students as Partners” model for pedagogical research. Each episode features a special guest interview accompanied by a SaP project profile. 

Listen on Spotify here 

Conference funding is available to McMaster students who are currently in a Student Partners project. Additionally, applicants must be partners with a McMaster faculty or staff partner who supports the application request for funding (this will normally be the project lead). Students must complete the Professional Development application form to qualify for funding.  

Application Criteria: 

• Applicants must be current McMaster students who have taken part in the Student Partner Program and must demonstrate how the conference will advance or support their Student Partners project. 
• Applications from undergraduate student partners will be prioritized. 
• Applicants cannot hold more than one professional development award per fiscal year (May 1 – April 30). 
• Application for funding must not exceed $500 (except under exceptional circumstances which should be clearly articulated in the application) 
• Applications to attend local or national conferences are preferred 
• Note: The pool of available funding is limited, and MacPherson Institute would like to maximize the number of professional development opportunities it can provide to Student Partners each fiscal year. 
• Applicants must be partnered with a McMaster faculty or staff partner who supports the application/request for funding. McMaster faculty or staff partner will need to sign off on the application for funding. 
• Applications to attend teaching and learning and/or educational-related conference are preferred, and accepted abstract should focus on enhancing the overall practice and/or understanding of teaching and learning within the McMaster context. 
• Applicants should demonstrate that they have tried to secure funding in other ways. 

Applications should be emailed to mi_sap@mcmaster.ca. Applications should normally be submitted at least FOUR weeks prior to the conference. Applicants can expect a TWO-week response time. 

Click here to view Application Form 

Navigating power dynamics in a student partnership represents a real challenge. While efforts are made to prevent staff and faculty from dominating partnerships, it’s crucial to balance guidance with giving students the autonomy to direct their efforts. Establishing effective, collaborative relationships with well-defined roles and responsibilities is essential, enabling members to seek guidance comfortably when needed. 

There is no one way to prevent issues from arising, there are steps teams can take and resources available to help mitigate power imbalance. The following is a short list you can run through as a team during those first few meetings. As conflicts or disagreements arise, refer to this list. If you seeking to make your partnership and work more equitable, please visit the McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office for more information.  

• During your first meeting it is a good idea to set expectations as a team. 
• What does a successful partnership look like for each member 
• Set team ground rules, policies and ensure that everyone is working with the same core values 
• Set and define roles through conversation 
• How will project decisions be made 
• How will personal and professional goals be reached, and which should be included 
• Embrace multiple mindsets or perspectives. Disagreements and differences will happen and can lead to great outcomes. 

Interested in learning more about partnership? Feel free to explore these curated resources. 

Cook-Sather, A., Bahti, M., & Ntem, A. (2019). Pedagogical partnerships: A how-to guide for faculty, students and academic developers in higher education.  

Diallo, Carol L. “How Participating in Pedagogical Partnership Helped Me Grow as a Person and as a Student,” Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education: Iss. 26 (2019), https://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss26/7  

Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. (2013). Best Practices for Integrating Student Voices in SoTL. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11OuxzmTGso   

Gourlay, G., & Korpan, C. (2018). Genuine students as partners: How a Teaching Assistant Consultant program put students as partners into practice. International Journal for Students As Partners, 2(2), 106-114. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i2.3567   

MacPherson Institute. (2017) Perceptions of Student Partnerships – Experiences [web video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aC3yv6RFOM   

Mejia, Yeidaly “Carrying Partnership Skills Beyond Formal Partnerships: When Conflicts Grow into Connections,” Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education: Iss. 26 (2019), https://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss26/6   

Mercer-Mapstone, L. & Abbot, S. (2020). The Power of partnership: Students, staff and faculty revolutionizing higher education.