Student Leadership with College Outdoors is a journey, and there are many paths to take! The Leadership Trail Map below represents the different roles available to students, and the pathways you can take through the College Outdoors leadership development program. Every student begins as a Participant, and from there may become a Student Coordinator (SC), Assistant Leader (AL), or Trip Leader (TL).
Each leadership role has specific requirements, responsibilities, and benefits. You don’t need any previous outdoor experience to trek the Leadership Trail, since College Outdoors provides training along the way.
10 + 1: Outdoor Skills
Paid Trip Leaders are expected to have mastery of these skills as outlined in the Leadership Trail Guide above, but you will learn many of these skills in every leadership role!
These skills can be learned through our program, and whileno experience is necessary, we do require your enthusiasm! We offer a variety of trips, clinics, classes, and mentorship opportunities to help you develop these skills. These skills can be worked on at any point during your College Outdoors tenure, not just for your Trip Leader Checkoff Trip.
Wilderness First Responder (WFR) or other professional medical training is invaluable when you are more than an hour from a hospital. The ability to perform a solid patient assessment, and provide care for complaints ranging from anaphylactic shock to blisters, is paramount to being a guide.
WFR, EMT, WEMT, or another comparable 80hr+ medical training + CPR
Certifications must be current to lead trips
Policy Articulation is vital. Policies are in place to ensure safe and risk-aware trips. The ability to persuade participants to voluntarily obey College Outdoors’ policies rather than imposing them is an all but required tactic.
Articulate policies on swimming, personal flotation devices, alcohol and drugs, closed-toe shoes, cliffs, lightning, lost person protocol
Identify where to find the College Outdoor Policy Brochure
Complete & submit, or identify how to complete & submit an incident report
HOT TIP! Be a good role-model on campus. Stay out of trouble. Don’t get written up (we look at conduct records).
Driving is the most dangerous part of any College Outdoors trip. As such, we take all possible steps to reduce road related risks. Excellent safe driving abilities and practices with program vehicles in all environments including:
Safe highway driving
Safe city (traffic) driving
Safe rough road driving
Change a tire on a CO vehicle
Identify when snow chains are needed and demonstrate proper installation
Demonstrate knowledge of how to use the battery jump-start kit
Safe driving in winter (snow/ice) conditions (only necessary for TLs who want to lead winter trips)
HOT TIP! Get cleared to drive as soon as possible, and demonstrate safe driving habits.
Trailer Training: complex trips demand trailers. As a result, leaders expecting to lead these trips must be able deftly maneuver in reverse while towing a trailer in order to even leave Sequoia.
Be able to complete the following:
Complete trailer training with Pro Staff
Demonstrate how to attach and detach a trailer
Demonstrate safe trailer driving and backing on a trip
Navigation is essential. Leaders should be comfortable navigating using various (digital and analog) methods. There is a great series of navigation videos here, and a useful quiz to check your skills here.
Be able to effectively operate and use a trail GPS or an app such as Gaia:
Demonstrate Gaia (or Garmin GPS) operation including marking waypoints, entering target coordinates, and tracking
Demonstrate Garmin InReach operation including sending and receiving pre-set and custom messages, marking waypoints, and sending GPS coordinates
Complete the College Outdoors Map & Compass Quiz to demonstrate the following competencies:
Map Reading Skills
Identify which elements of a topographic map indicate Distance, Elevation, Terrain, & Direction
Explain what a contour line represents
Use contour lines to determine elevation
Use contour lines to identify terrain features
Knowledge of Coordinate Systems
Explain the difference between Latitude & Longitude vs UTM coordinate systems
Use UTM grid marking to roughly estimate distance
Report a given location on a map in UTMs & Lat/Long
Plot UTM coordinates onto a map
Explain why it is important to understand how to use coordinate systems
Using Bearings on a Map
Identify the parts of a compass
Explain how angles relate to compass directions
On a map, take a bearing between 2 known points
Using Bearings in the Field
Understand the difference between True North and Magnetic North (declination)
Use a compass to orient your body towards a given direction, accounting for declination
Use a compass to orient your body in the direction of a bearing you found on a map
Identify the compass bearing to a feature you can see
HOT TIP! Take advantage of trainings, skills clinics, and Open House sessions that teach these skills.
Interpersonal Skills are crucial for communicating knowledge, risk management, providing effective group management, and facilitating a fun and inclusive experience.
Lead inclusive intros, including pronouns
Use inclusive language; define jargon and acronyms
Engage with all participants in a personally authentic way
Lead a game or initiative
Facilitate leader team goal setting and goal reflection
Facilitate post-trip feedback (give & receive) among leadership team
Mentor Student Coordinators & newer Assistant Leaders on your trips
Participate in Training Sessions on the following topics (during New Student Trip training, on Training Trips, as an Open House, or other approved training)
Inclusion & Equity
Bystander Intervention
Conflict Resolution
Risk Management
Attend any of the following College Outdoors Training Sessions (Open House, in Wilderness Leadership class, or on Training Trips)
NST Staff Training
Privilege & the Outdoors
How to Teach
Working with Challenging Students
Leadership Development
Initiatives / Icebreakers / Group Facilitation
Interleader Communication
Outdoor Professionalism
Decision Making
HOT TIP! Be open to, and seek out, feedback. Set goals for yourself on trips, and participate in post-trip debrief sessions. Provide encouraging, actionable feedback to other leaders seeking it from you.
Rescue Skills change depending on the particular trip you are leading. One must be prepared to handle trip-specific risk management, as well as emergency response.
Have the necessary skills for the trip you are leading:
Identify where to find the College Outdoors emergency response guide
Demonstrate familiarity with the CO lost person protocol
Demonstrate familiarity with the CO evacuation protocol
(optional) Demonstrate competency in one or more of the following (attending a training or explaining procedures demonstrates competency)
Avalanche awareness
Swiftwater rescue
Sea kayak rescues
Winter rescue skills
Knot Knowledge and the ability to secure tarps and cargo on vehicles are useful, impressive, and critical for safety.
Trucker hitch
Bowline
Use of Cam-Straps
Make a Daisy Chain
Coil a rope
Stove Use for cooking meals is important for both safety and the pleasure of enjoying a delicious meal.
Cookpartner (4 burner, front country propane stove)
MSR Dragonfly (backcountry stove for cooking)
MSR Reactor (backcountry stove for boiling water)
Woodland Power Stove (single burner, front country propane stove)
Sanitation Practices keep your group healthy and make for a professionally run experience.
Demonstrate sanitary food handling and packing
Demonstrate or explain camping dish washing procedures
How to poop in the woods (using cat holes, groovers, or wag bags as necessary)
Environmental Education is an important component of any outdoor outing. It ties participants to the land that we visit. Leaders should take time to learn the basic geology, flora, and fauna of the area before (well, sometimes during…) each trip.
Identify 3 plants, animals, or geologic features encountered on CO trips that you lead
Provide 3 “fun facts” about the natural world that can be shared on CO trips to enhance the trip and deepen sense of place
Professionalism, prompt response to emails, and meticulous use of checklists is beloved at College Outdoors. It takes countless hands to get any College Outdoors trip out the door: adhere to the systems in place for efficiency, be considerate (e.g. on time) for others, and use the checklists for transparency.
Always use/do the following:
Demonstrate faithful use of all checklists
Explain why it is important to always reference checklists
Demonstrate proper gear check-in procedures
Demonstrate familiarity with CO Logistics & Processes
HOT TIP! Respond to emails, texts, and voicemails right away, even if it is just to say that you need to think about it but will get back to them by such and such date.
+1 skill that you uniquely bring to the experience, or just something you want to learn! Here are some ideas:
Birding
Mushroom Foraging
Mountaineering
Animal Signs and Tracking
Advanced conflict mediation skills
Backcountry cooking
Astronomy
Storytelling
Campfire Songs
Whatever your passion is!
Insider Tips for successful navigation of the Leadership Trail
There is a lot involved in becoming a Trip Leader and it can be a big investment in time, so if that is your goal, it is useful to start working towards it sooner than later.
You are going to want some kind of professional development while you are in College, and CO is a great option for that! Know that that in order to get the most out of College Outdoors, it will take a significant amount of your time. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out.
As with any job, we expect that when people make a commitment they follow through or clearly communicate any change of plans as early as possible. If we don’t perceive that we can count on you, you aren’t likely to get placed on trips.
Take advantage of trainings, clinics, Open House, and the Wilderness Leadership Class. If you already know the skill being taught, offer to help out. This not only helps your solidify skills, but makes you an integral part of the CO community.
Get a relevant leadership experience outside of CO right away, and check with pro-staff to make sure it qualifies for Trip Leader eligibility beforehand. We are looking for experiences that require planning, ownership, responsibility, and interpersonal skills. Some great examples: Summer jobs leading multi-day backpacking trips for teens, whitewater raft guiding, being an RA, being a Program Director at a summer camp, field research with a logistical responsibility component, etc. Again, ASK if your idea for a position will count.
Help out with New Student Trips. If you lead an NST you will get tons of field time, on-the-job training, pre-trip training, trip and CO logistical practice. It accelerates all processes of your leadership development and gets you involved in the greater CO community (alum, etc.). Helping with Spring Break trips also gets you tons of valuable experience.
Ask questions and vocalize where you want to be with College Outdoors. Advocate for yourself. Reach out to members of the Roundtable, Professional staff, or the leaders on your trips.
College Outdoors is located in room 239 of Fowler Student Center on the Undergraduate Campus. MSC: 188
