Developing Leaders Across Campus Employers from all fields are looking for young professionals with strong interpersonal and leadership skills. Professors in the College of Education recognized this need as an opportunity to bring their expertise to students not just in the college, but across campus. They created a three-course certificate designed to help students develop the specific tactics and skills they need to become effective leaders. The Certificate in Collaborative Leadership is open to all undergraduate students and teaches team-building skills, active listening strategies, how to communicate across cultures and how to identify and capitalize on human resources to reach goals. “In order to be an effective leader, individuals need to become highly self-aware and gain solid interpersonal skills,” said Heather Servaty-Seib, acting director of the certificate program and professor of counseling and development. “We believe that all students can use this certificate, regardless of their majors. We find that many students from nursing, pharmacy and Purdue Polytechnic Institute are enrolling in the certificate program to prepare for the extensive interpersonal interaction that their careers will involve.” Haley Geiss, a junior in Purdue’s Department of Technology, Leadership and Innovation (with Purdue Polytechnic), said that the certificate has helped in her role as a staff resident and resident assistant at Purdue Village. She said, “The cross-cultural communication course has helped me to communicate across different barriers, like differences in culture, language, socioeconomic status, or age. The concepts I learned help me make sure that
Haley Geiss and Ella Portteus are two of the first students to earn the Certificate in Collaborative Leadership, a certificate open to all Purdue students that encourages leadership skills necessary for success in the workplace.
my residents feel welcome and that I am open to what they have to say. The certificate has helped me to not let anything stand in the way.” Enrollment in the program has grown steadily since the first course was piloted in Fall 2011. This first course, Collaborative Leadership: Listening, meets the oral communication foundational requirement of Purdue’s core curriculum, which adds to its popularity among students. This spring, 188 students were enrolled in eight sections of the course. The college will again offer eight sections of the course in Fall 2016 and hopes to offer 20 sections in Spring 2017. Ella Portteus, a junior in elementary education, said, “The program has introduced me to skills that are so different than anything I’ve learned before, like how to truly listen to people and ask good questions, or how to have a mentoring relationship. I already find myself using these skills in my day-to-day life.”
First Annual K-12 STEM Education Conference Fills to Capacity More than 600 educators and administrators throughout Indiana and beyond swarmed Purdue's Stewart Center for the first annual Indiana STEM Education Conference on January 14. The conference, which focused on the latest work in STEM education and research, included more than 100 presentations by educators from P-12 schools and universities.
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Event organizer Carla C. Johnson, associate dean for research, engagement and global partnerships for the College of Education, says, “A lot of schools are implementing a STEM approach now because they’re trying to engage students
in learning about disciplines such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a real-world context,” she said. “This approach makes learning more accessible and helps students build skills that will prepare them for college and careers that are much needed in Indiana.” The conference was sponsored by the College of Education, the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM, the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The date of the second conference is set for January 12, 2017.
Participants interact at the College of Education’s first annual K-12 STEM Education Conference in January.