New Reflection Model - Grad Corner - Media Spotlight - AND MORE!
Newsletter Winter 2015
Volume 1, No. 1
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A Word From the Co-Chairs Danielle Kleist, Director of Student Life & Services, Washington State University Tri-Cities Matthew Clifford, Director of Residence Life, Wake Forest University
The Student Leadership Knowledge Community (SLPKC) connects higher education professionals who are interested in leadership training, education, and development. Student leadership can be incorporated into all aspects of an institution. Whether you are training resident assistants, educating orientation leaders on transition skills, or developing a student government, our KC can help with resources for all different areas. Just as there are various ways to incorporate student leadership into all areas, one can also apply student leadership on multiple levels. As the largest KC within NASPA, we have opportunities to engage undergraduate, graduate, new professionals, mid-level professionals, and senior student affairs officers. Training: As higher education professionals, we participate, facilitate, and coordinate trainings for students and colleagues. Student leaders come in all forms and often times they need our expertise to learn their position on campus. During these trainings, there is a high probability that there are similar trainings for similar student leaders on another campus. How wonderful would it be to have someone provide a different perspective on your tools? Our KC can provide the opportunity to connect with others who may be planning similar trainings.
Tell us what’s on your mind! E-mail us at slpchairs@gmail.com or find the SLPKC on social media at
Education: One of the priorities of every KC within NASPA is to produce knowledge. Our KC collaborates and conducts webinars for our members. This is in addition to the newsletter, articles, and pre-conference sessions for professional development. If a professional has an interest in student leadership programs, being an engaged member of our KC will provide opportunities to learn more about leadership and how to build additional skills in their areas. As part of the education, the SLPKC provides an annual research award to acknowledge those who are currently working on research projects centered around student leadership programs. (Continued on Page 4)
Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community
@naspaSLPKC
Winter 2015 SLPKC Newsletter
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Meet the SLPKC New Reflection Model Creates Executive Board Culture of Understanding Danielle Kleist, Co-Chair Washington State University, Tri-Cities Matthew Clifford, Co-Chair Wake Forest University Jimmy Brown, Chair-Elect University of Chicago Kim Kushner, Vice Chair-Elect University of Colorado at Boulder Michael Baumhardt, Past Chair University of Miami Sherry Early, Past Chair Ohio University David DeAngelis, Team Lead - Partnerships Suffolk University Aaron Jones, Team Lead - Communications University of Hawaii at Manoa Gabby Mora, Team Leader - Conference Drexel University Kat Dougherty, Spotlight Series Co-Coord. Franklin Pierce University Ashley Jones, Spotlight Series Co-Coord. University of Texas - Austin Susan Hua, Social Media/Comm. Co-Coord. University of San Francisco Eric Scott, Social Media/Comm. Co-Coord. University of Alaska Southeast Myles Surrett, Webinar Co-Coord. George Washington University Rosann Santos-Elliott, Webinar Co-Coord. John Jay College of Criminal Justice Ashley Spicer-Runnels, Newsletter Co-Coord. Texas State University Sundi Musnicki, Newsletter Co-Coord. Eastern Washington University Dave Borgealt, Sponsorship Chair DePaul University
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Faran Saeed, Volunteer Programs Coordinator Rachel Winters, Director of Community Engagement University of Virginia Madison House, the volunteer center at the University of Virginia is committed to a weekly service model facilitated by 220 student leaders, 3100 volunteers and over 170 partners in the community. Some of the 20 umbrella programs have existed since the founding of the organization 46 years ago. As an organization with a long standing partnerships and tradition it is easy for us to rely on the system that has been in place successfully for years. We are in the midst of creating a strategic plan and this process has provided rich reflection opportunities for our staff, students, alumni, donors, university, and community partners. Based on feedback from our assessment we are thinking critically about ways to deepen the volunteer experience for every student and provide more intentional opportunities for leadership development. As student affairs professionals we know reflection is critical for student leaders to make meaning of their experiences. Our goal is to work with our community partners to co-educate students about the mission of their organization, the history of our community, and importance of their time as a volunteer. While all of our volunteers and student leaders are required to go through training not all of our programs lend themselves easily to reflection opportunities. We are in the process of implementing a new reflection model with our student leaders to create a culture of understanding and growth. The reflection model focuses on the “Head, Heart, and Hands,” method. The following is a description of each part of the reflection model. Head Staff provide the students leaders with different resources, literature, materials, and best practices in higher education on social issues that are relevant in today’s society. This is in hopes that it prompts critical reflection about the topics at hand.
Heart Staff provide students a safe space where they can nurture students reflection of experiences. Staff facilitates conversation on the resources, materials, literature provided to the students and how a student’s identity, privilege, etc. is incorporated into the societal issues. Hands Madison House provides students an array of service opportunities through different programs where students can apply their experience, knowledge, and understanding to engage the issues for the betterment of society. Changing the culture of an existing program or organization can be difficult. Here are a few of the guiding questions we are using as we move towards a culture of growth and understanding through reflection. Why is it important for our students to reflect on their experiences? What is the best method to facilitate their reflection? What do our student leaders need to thoughtfully facilitate reflection opportunities? How can we role model using reflection in our daily practice? How can we engage our student leaders and community partners in this model? Is this model helping us stay true to our mission and the mission of our partners? While it is important to reflect with our students, it’s also valuable to find time as practitioners to reflect on our work often. How do you and your team reflect? Do you have structured time? Is it built into your advising meetings or staff meetings? What questions are central to the way you think about your role and your work? At Madison House as we craft our strategic goals and learning outcomes for student leadership and community partnerships we are finding reflection to be the way we stay grounded throughout the process.
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Grad Corner: Advice from Recent SAGrads “What is one thing you wish you had learned in graduate school?”
I wish I had thought more about my financial well-being once I finished school. I realized that just because I have a salary it doesn’t mean all my problems are solved. In your first year it is so important to learn what your benefits are and where your money is going. It may seem like something that can hold off, but the sooner you can learn about your money the sooner you can become more financially sound. I wish I had known how important it is to trust your I wish I knew how important my relationship staff and the people you work with. I think that’s the with my supervisor would be. Your supervisor key to success in any position. You can’t do everything plays many role in your transition as a new pro- yourself and you need the support of the people around you. fessional. If you don’t feel supported by them it can make getting your job done harder and you have to find that support in other places.
Association of Leadership Educations 2016 Conference The Association of Leadership Educators (ALE) invites you to join us at our 26th annual professional conference in Sacramento, CA, July 10-13, 2016. This year’s conference theme, “Prospecting for Leadership” celebrates the challenges faced during the gold rush time and how challenges also exist for those who teach, practice and study leadership today. The mission of ALE is to strengthen and sustain the expertise of professional leadership educators and set a standard for the field. ALE strives to be the leading resource for the exchange and development of quality ideas, scholarship, and practice through an inclusive and engaging community of dynamic professionals who are committed to consistently growing, thriving, and advancing the field. The 2016 conference Call for Proposals can be found at www.aleconference.com by clicking on the “Call for Proposals” link. Presentation proposals are being solicited under five tracks this year: *Research Papers - Share the results of a qualitative and/or quantitative research study or review scholarship literature related to leadership and educational strategy (30 minutes) *Innovative Practice Papers - Provide the opportunity for a shorter, to the point, discussion of a project, program, or practice tool/strategy (30 minutes) *Educator Workshops - Provide the opportunity for a longer (90 minutes), more in-depth experience and active participation around an innovative educational practice or teaching and learning tool *Posters (both research and practice) - Professional quality posters outlining either an innovative practice or research relevant to the leadership education field from undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and/or administration *Roundtable Discussions - Facilitate dialogue about a topical area of leadership education (25 minute discussions) The final proposal submission deadline will be Friday, March 4, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. EST. If you have general questions about proposal submissions, please contact Dr. Jill Arensdorf at jrarensdorf@fhsu.edu. Winter 2015 SLPKC Newsletter
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Meet the SLPKC Executive Board Brandon Gross, Graduate Support Co-Coord. University of Miami Heather Stevens, Graduate Support Co-Coord. University of Miami Rich Whitney, Lit Review Co-Coord. DePaul University Sam Museus, Lit. Review Co-Coord. Indiana University Danielle Davis, Leadership Ed. Institute Rep. Texas A&M University
A Word From the Co-Chairs (Continued from Page 1) Development: In leadership areas, it is important to develop the individual as well as the people around professional. Our KC provides a mentorship program on the regional and national level. This program offers professional to help develop graduate students who have a similar interest in student leadership. As professionals develop and help develop others, our KC also recognizes these efforts. We provide a spotlight series award to recognize programs, research, and individuals who have contributed to developing student leadership. We hope that our newsletters offer a balance of current issues in leadership, perspectives and practices from other institutions, and upcoming events from NASPA and the KC. This issue brings a great perspective on a reflective model in place at the University of Virginia, a report from the recent ILA conference in Spain, and an update on the recently revised professional competencies from NASPA and ACPA. We hope you find something useful!
Dan Jenkins, ILA Liaison University of Southern Maine Joshua Fredenburg, Conf. Events Co-Coord. Nova Southeastern University Rachel Winters, Conf. Events Co-Coord. University of Virginia Adam Cebulski, Conf. Program Review Coord. OrgSync, Inc. Sally Parish, Pre-Conference Co-Coord. University of Tenneessee, Knoxville Sue Zarnowski, Region I Representative Bryan University Schnell Garrett, Region II Representative Howard Community College Ahmed Samaha, Region III Representative University of South Carolina - Aiken Matt Skoy, Region IV-West Representative North Dakota State University Eboni Turnbow, Region IV-East Representative Wayne State University Janna Bernstein, Region V Representative University of Nevada, Las Vegas Jaime Faucher, Region VI Representative California Lutheran University
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Want to share your thoughts or leadership expertise with others? Consider submitting an article for the next SLPKC Newsletter! Topics can include: Recent Conference Experiences Training Summaries Lessons Learned/Words of Wisdom Popular Media/Articles/Videos/Etc. Program Spotlight Upcoming Regional Events
Submissions are due by Feb. 19th. For more info, e-mail smusnicki@ewu.edu or asr@txstate.edu.
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ILA Global Conference Draws 1,015 to Spain Kim Kushner, Coordinator for Student Development & Leadership Last month, the 17th Annual International Leadership Association (ILA) Global Conference: Leading Across Borders and Generations, in Barcelona, Spain, attracted 1,015 attendees from 53 countries. The conference theme and associated sessions challenged us to think broader and bolder as we lead across, beyond, and between borders and generations. The Leadership Education track, facilitated by the Leadership Education Member Interest Group of the ILA, was represented with over forty concurrent sessions, a dozen roundtables, several preconference sessions, and a Student Case Competition. Topics ranged from strategies to explore leadership identity to online leadership education to curriculum and assessment design to diversity, global leadership, and civic engagement and service learning. Our 18thAnnual ILA Global Conference: The Dynamics of Inclusive Leadership, hosted next year in Atlanta, Georgia, November 2 – 5, is positioned to attract over 1,500 participants. You can learn more about the
UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
March 12-16, 2016 - Indianapolis, Indiana
The 2015 NASPA Annual Conference was our largest conference ever with more than 8,000 attendees representing 1750 institutions from 29 countries. Help us make 2016 even better! Go to http://conference2016.naspa.org/ for more information and register TODAY!
National Conference on Student Leadership March 31-April 2, 2016 | Denver, Colorado Go to http://bit.ly/1TlmtS1 for more info.
conference and call for proposals here: http://www.ila-net.org/ Conferences/2016/index.html We hope to see you in Atlanta! (Continued on Page 7)
Inter-Association Leadership Education Collaborative (ILEC) In 2010, a collective of leadership educators began an informal conversation concerning a perceived void of common purpose and shared direction for the field of college student leadership education. As a result of infrequent conversation over a two year period of time it became apparent there was a need for a convening to establish an agenda for action. In 2012 key members of 7 national organizations with a vested interest in advancing the field of college student leadership education were invited to the University of Maryland to begin the conversations. In June 2015, 8 participating organizations came together for the 3rd annual InterAssociation Leadership Education Collaborative (ILEC) Summer Summit at the University of Maryland. These organizations included the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP), the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), Association for Leadership Education (ALE), the Association for College Unions International (ACUI), the International Leadership Association (ILA), the American College Personnel Association (ACPA), NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and the American Association of University Women (AAUW & CWLEA). The Collaborative received a C. Charles Jackson Foundation grant to fund the three-day summit. (Continued on Page 7)
Winter 2015 SLPKC Newsletter
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Media Spotlight Five Leadership Mistakes Of The Galactic Empire Excerpt by Alex Knapp, Forbes Magazine http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/02/13/five-leadership-mistakes-of-the-galactic-empire/ To celebrate the release of Star Wars later this month, here is an excerpt from an article by Alex Knapp that was featured in the February 2, 2012 issue of Forbes Magazine. The article discusses leadership lessons that can be learned from the popular film series.
Key Takeaway: In order to get the best work out of people in your organization, you need to solicit their feedback, engage them in the decision-making process, and ensure that they have a stake in the success of the organization.
Mistake #1: Building an organization around particular people, rather than institutions.
Mistake #3: Having no tolerance for failure.
Perhaps the biggest mistake of the Galactic Empire made is its singular focus on the preservation of power for the Emperor and a few of his chosen lackeys. There is a constant through line we see starting with A New Hope and running through to the end of the Return of the Jedi of the Emperor consolidating more and more power into his own hands and that of his right-hand man, Darth Vader. By the time Return of the Jedi rolls around, the Emperor’s only advisor is Darth Vader, and his distrust in his organization is so complete that his only plan for succession is a desperate attempt to poach Luke Skywalker from the Rebel Alliance and get him to join his organization. Anytime your future plans depend on getting a rising star from a rival organization to join your team, you know that you have some serious institutional issues. As the events of the movie make clear, the deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader pretty much eliminated any opportunity for succession. A galaxy-wide organization was defeated simply by taking out two key individuals. Despite his decades of scheming, Palpatine’s organization barely lasted a day after he was gone. Key Takeaway: Your organization needs to be structured so that talent is being developed on all levels of the organization, in order to ensure smooth functioning and ensure that it’s easy for people to rise in the organization in the event that key individuals leave. Responsibility should be distributed on several fronts, so that chaos doesn’t ensue if one person can’t be reached. Realistic succession plans are vital to developing an enduring organization. Mistake #2: Depriving people of the chance to have a stake in the organization. By consolidating his power, the Emperor didn’t just ensure that his organization wouldn’t survive his death. He also deprived a key motivation for both his employees and the public-at-large: a feeling of having a stake in the success of the organization. The Emperor disbanded the Galactic Senate, removing the idea of any democratic stake in the government. He wiped out all references to the Force, so there was no longer any guiding ideology. His sole idea for maintaining control of the Empire was building the Death Star, on the theory that, in the words of Grand Moff Tarkin, “Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.” Similarly, while in the first Star Wars film, there was a scene showing officers in the Imperial Navy discussing strategy, by Return of the Jedi, it was clear that no feedback was being solicited anymore. The Emperor or Vader gave orders and that was it. No further discussion.
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In an early part of the Empire Strikes Back, the Empire attempted to wipe out the Rebel Alliance once and for all in the Battle of Hoth. However, because Admiral Ozzel took the Imperial Fleet out of lightspeed too close to the Hoth system, the Rebel Alliance was able to detect the Imperial approach and quickly begin its defense. Enraged by this error, Darth Vader used the Force to choke Admiral Ozzel to death. Captain Piett, Ozzel’s second-in-command, was then promoted to Admiral and given command of the Imperial Fleet. This swift, decisive punishment of failure is a huge error of management. First of all, mistakes are inevitable – especially in times where quick decisions are needed to be made on incomplete information. Rather than simply kill Admiral Ozzel, Vader should have attempted to direct him to a course of action that corrected his error. Instead, he threw the Imperial Fleet into organizational disarray as countless numbers of officers were suddenly thrust into new roles and responsibilities without the opportunity to learn them. This organizational chaos was undoubtedly key to the Rebels ability to escape in mass numbers, even as they flew perilously close to the Imperial Fleet. Even beyond this one mistake, by adopting a management style of “failure leads to Force choking,” Vader developed an organizational culture that was destined to be weak. People would be afraid to offer feedback or suggestions, choosing instead to follow orders to the letter. This ensures that decisions are made at a very high level, and anyone under those levels will lack initiative or the ability to act on their local knowledge. What’s more, by punishing failure so harshly, the Empire provides an incentive for people within the organization to actually lead their superiors to failure. After all, the quickest way to promotion in the Empire is for your boss to make a mistake, so it’s in your own best interests to ensure that he does. Key Takeaway: It’s essential to remember that failure is the engine of success. Mistakes are inevitable, but the key to making them is learning from them. It’s also vital to ensure that organizations are flexible, capable of quickly adapting to changing conditions and allowing for initiative and quick action at all levels, even if that leads to some mistakes. Mistake #4: Focusing all of the organization’s efforts into a single goal and failing to consider alternatives. When it came to the success of the Galactic Empire, the Emperor had one single idea that he was absolutely obsessed with: building the Death Star. The completion of the Death Star, with its ability
(Continued from page 6) to destroy entire planets, was the singleminded obsession of the Emperor. At no point do we ever see any alternatives broached. No scenes between Darth Vader and the Emperor debating the wisdom of building a second Death Star so soon after the first one was destroyed. Nobody suggests to the Emperor that it might be wiser to develop more flexible ways for the Empire to destroy planets, such as combining the firepower of several Star Destroyers at once. The only other goal we ever see the Emperor pursue, apart from the destruction of the Rebels, is to get Luke Skywalker to turn to the Dark Side and succeed Darth Vader and possibly the Emperor himself. As discussed above, having only one succession plan, based entirely around getting a key player from a rival organization to change his mind, showed remarkable lack of foresight. This singleminded obsession with one way to succeed is something that undermined not only the Galactic Empire, but also many other organizations throughout history. Kodak focused on film even after developing digital technology. Borders focused on brick and mortar years after it was clear that a strong Internet presence was key to the book business. Key Takeaway: It’s vital to be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. You should always consider alternatives to your course of action and develop multiple plans for achieving particular goals in case one or more plans don’t pan out. Mistake #5: Failing to learn from mistakes. The Galactic Empire devoted years, an enormous amount of money, and an enormous amount of manpower to building the Death Star. After it was built, the Death Star only successfully completed one mission before it was destroyed by the Rebels. And the Empire’s
response? Build a bigger, newer Death Star to serve as a target for the Rebel Alliance. In the second case, the Death Star wasn’t even completed before the Rebels managed to destroy it again. Despite the failure of Force choking Admiral Ozzel to improve performance by the Imperial Fleet, Vader Force choked Captain Needa after his failure to capture the Millenium Falcon shortly thereafter. Both the Emperor and Vader were obsessed with turning Skywalker to the Dark Side of the Force, even after Skywalker made it clear that he’d rather die than abandon the Rebel Alliance or join the Dark Side. You may see a pattern emerging here. Perhaps the Emperor and Vader were blinded by their success taking control of a millennia-old Republic and turning it into an Empire, but it’s clear that they became very overconfident in their own abilities. Despite making the same mistakes over, and over again, they still moved stubbornly, blindly forward without ever changing course. And then kept on moving forward without changing their paths until the Empire was destroyed. Key Takeaway: While it’s admirable to not let setbacks hold you back from pursuing your goals, its vital to learn from every failure in order to correct your course of action. Failing to learn from your mistakes and repeating them will inevitably lead to the destruction of your organization. The Bottom Line: Ultimately, the Galactic Empire failed as an enduring organization because of incredibly flawed leadership at the very top. By building an organizational culture based on fear, lack of independence, and an unwillingness to adapt to changing circumstances, the Emperor set the stage for his own inevitable failure.
Inter-Association Leadership Education Collaborative (ILEC) Report (Continued from Page 5) This three day summit built upon the work done by the ILEC members in 2014 as they worked in three benchmarking teams. These teams explored the internal benchmarking of each ILEC association, competitive benchmarking of other Higher Education organizations, and functional benchmarking to make comparisons between member organizations and organizations outside of Higher Education. The working teams divided up to research one of 6 key propositions that emerged during the past 3 years. They include: • Developing and Advocating for Holistic Understanding of Leadership Education • Fostering Meaningful Dialogue and Collaborations among Organizations
• Identifying, Synthesizing, and Advancing Quality Resources for Leadership Educators in Higher Education • Identifying Trends and Addressing Voids in Leadership Learning Programs • Services, and Resources • Assessment/Evaluation of Program, Student, and Alumni Impact • Shaping the Narrative of Leadership Education for the Future The working teams will develop a formal understanding of each proposition and possible tactics to advance the proposition. This information will be dispersed at national conferences and meetings during the Spring 2016 to gain greater clarity on each of the propositions before weaving the work together for widespread dissemination during Fall 2016. To learn more about this initiative, go to http://bit.ly/ILEC2015Proceedings.
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Winter 2015 SLPKC Newsletter
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Thank you to our wonderful sponsors!
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