The program begins with an all-expenses-paid retreat in the fall, led by fellow students and featuring workshops, mentorship, opportunities for reflection and individual growth, and collaborative activities focused on constructive disagreement, emotional resilience, tools for community building, narrative storytelling, networking opportunities, and more.

After the retreat, fellows will identify an aspect of the training that would benefit their student organization. With a student mentor, they will then design and lead a custom program, tailored to their organization. For instance, a newspaper editor may choose to design a workshop for her interviews team, inspired by the fellowship module on active listening and intentional questioning, to help the team produce stronger interviews and engage subjects from a wider range of perspectives. Similarly, a fraternity leader may be inspired by a workshop on narrative storytelling to create a storytelling evening event for his fraternity to strengthen their understanding of each other.

The cohort will then participate in a winter retreat, where they will reflect on their projects, learn from each other, and begin to design campus-based capstone projects to engage the broader community in their learning.

Institute mentors will work with students to identify an ambitious project, such as a student conference or curricular supplement, and work with them as well as key campus stakeholders to make it a reality in the spring.

Time commitment typically averages 4–8 hours per month, and includes three retreats (one in-person) and biweekly meetings.