Even if leadership roles give students real responsibility, there's something a job description can't tell you: What have the students filling those roles actually done before?
Imagine a newly elected executive board. The president has planned several major events but has never managed a budget. The treasurer understands finances but has never led a meeting. A sophomore officer has never held a major title but has already coordinated dozens of volunteers somewhere else. Another student is comfortable speaking to adults but has never had to follow up with a peer who didn't complete an assignment.
I'd want to know that if I were part of the team.
Make the experience visible
One simple way to see it might be to put the team's names down one side of a chart and leadership activities across the top. Then ask students about their experience with each one using something simple: never done it, helped with it, been responsible for it, or done it several times.
It wouldn't be a grade or an evaluation, and students wouldn't need to prove that they're experienced leaders. The point would just be to see what the team already knows how to do.
Look at the pattern
Maybe almost everyone has planned an event, but nobody has developed a budget. Maybe everyone is comfortable making presentations, but nobody has had much practice delegating work and following up. Maybe one person has run lots of meetings while everyone else has only attended them.
The chart could also uncover experience people don't know about. Someone involved in theatre may have a lot of experience solving last-minute problems. A student athlete may have helped younger teammates develop. Someone who has never been an officer may have coordinated volunteers for a community organization. Experience doesn't have to come from the organization you're currently leading.
A gap can be an opportunity
If a student has never developed a budget, that doesn't mean the advisor should handle the budget. It might mean the student needs someone to show them how to get started.
Our research made me think about this because previous experience can help prepare a student for greater responsibility, but students don't all arrive in leadership roles with the same opportunities behind them. They still need support when they take on something new.
I'd also be curious to look at the chart again at the end of the year and ask what the team knows how to do that it didn't know how to do when it started. Seeing what changed over the year might tell us more than simply knowing where everyone began.
This article is part of a series exploring what students actually get to practice through leadership—and how schools and advisors can create stronger leadership experiences. The series grew out of our 2026 research with 271 student leaders and 37 advisors.