Council works to expand leadership opportunities

Vice President Roland Smith congratulates Lt. Col. Paul Pusecker at a student leadership dinner.

University of Delaware students have a number of opportunities to get involved in leadership building activities, and a new program will make it easier for them to find out what's available and how to get involved.

The Student Leadership Development Council (SDLC) has been formed to develop a campuswide leadership network to promote leadership development and to help students realize their full potential as future citizen leaders.

"Roland Smith, vice president for student affairs, approached me last year, and we had a long discussion about student leadership on campus," Lt. Col. Paul Pusecker, military science and SLDC chairperson, said. "We found that despite many great individual efforts there was no consolidated leadership development effort across all units at UD."

The SLDC is designed to increase communication between academic and non-academic leadership programs, while also making students aware of the many leadership opportunities available.

After reviewing the results of a Collaborative Leadership Conference held early during the fall 2000 semester, SLDC was organized into three distinct subcommittees, each with a specific focus and set of goals.

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Strengthening relationships

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Encouraging stronger ties among the many student leadership groups–including student government, campus programming, culture and performance, as well as religious and honor societies–is the goal of Group I, Building Strong Student Organizations, coordinated by Marilyn Prime and Eric Norman, student centers.

Other goals of this group include taking a look at what academic and non-academic groups are doing to develop student leaders and establish a cross-campus linkage among these groups.

"We have many programs, and we felt that we could streamline some of these efforts," Pusecker said. "We wanted to create a synergistic effect and improve communication between these groups."

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Individual empowerment

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Coordinated by Kathryn Kerr, student life, the focus of Group II, Individual Empowerment, is about getting non-affiliated students involved in campus leadership activities through participation in one of the more than 200 student organizations at UD.

These student organizations, which offer a wide range of activities with leadership development potential, include special interest groups, campus programming, student government and community service organizations.

"We want to let students know that leadership opportunities are available," Pusecker said. "We also want to know what we can do to get non-affiliated students involved in starting new organizations or joining existing groups."

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Using technology

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Finding the best way to employ web-based programming and other media to link all SLDC initiatives while developing and implementing surveys and evaluations to assist the other two groups is the concern of Group III, coordinated by Pusecker.

The Technology Information and Assessment Group also is in the process of monitoring the evolution of its homepage [www/udel.edu/leadership], in an effort to use web-based programming and other media as effective tools in making the goals and achievements of SLDC known to a wider audience.

Assessment goals include learning how students define leadership, developing opportunities and working to find out if students are interested in pursuing such opportunities through involvement in volunteer or service organizations such as Circle K, Best Buddies, Clowns for Medicine and others.

"Leadership means taking part in campus activities," Pusecker said. "We want students to take pride in themselves and UD by taking a bigger role in campus life."

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Academic efforts

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Academic efforts to develop and coordinate interdisciplinary leadership opportunities at UD include a major in leadership and consumer economics, as well as a minor in leadership, both offered by the Department of Consumer Studies.

Consumer Studies also offers a pair of courses, "Leadership Film Series" and the "Real World Course," that explore various leaderships theories and issues.

Leadership opportunities offered by the Activities and Programs Office of UD's student centers include attendance and participation in such workshops and seminars as the "Leadership Series," "Women's Leadership Conference," "President's and Treasurer's Training," "Emerging Leaders Program" and various others.

Students also may take advantage of LEAD (Leadership Education At Delaware), a Department of Consumer Studies program that works to promote community interest in leadership education and development among students new to UD.

To see what other institutions are doing, SLDC has examined the leadership training programs of more than 50 universities and colleges to determine what processes used there might also work at UD.

The SLDC also is working to facilitate the development of its mentoring programs and help participating students receive credit for their involvement. For example, the issuing of co-curricular leadership transcripts as part of overall leadership development initiatives would provide future employers with a certified record of a student's leadership training activities in a form comparable to standard academic transcripts.

"We also are in the process of developing a student survey to find out what areas of student leadership activities are of the greatest interest to students," Pusecker said. "We also are looking for ways to retain students once they become involved in leadership activities."

Currently, the 35-member SLDC is composed of students, staff from the Office of the Vice President for Student Life and faculty representing several academic disciplines in four colleges, including Business and Economics, Arts and Science, Engineering and Human Services, Education and Public Policy and Recreation Services. Pusecker said a continuing goal of the current SLDC members is to increase the number of student representatives on council.

"We want to make students aware of leadership opportunities and to get students involved," Pusecker said. "Hopefully, we will get the best and the brightest to create a more vibrant campus environment."

–Jerry Rhodes

Photo by KATHY FLICKINGER