Institute targets campus leaders
by Amy Mallet

Beginning on the afternoon of Friday, February 20, 50 freshman and sophomore students, nominated by VWC faculty, staff, and administration, attended the 2nd

annual Student Leadership Institute The main goal of the weekend event was to provide these students with an opportunity for learning, developing skills and enthusiastically embracing their individual leader. ship style and potential.

“Strong enthusiasm from the facilitators as well as the students made this weekend a success on many levels” said Deb Hicks, director of Career Services and the chairman of the event. “It was great to see individual students who don’t always make themselves very visible on campus really getting involved and taking what they learned with them.”

On Saturday, the student leaders were divided into four groups and attended separate workshops. VWC professors and faculty led these groups in activities and discussions focusing on the four key ingredients of leadership: communication, team-building, problem-solving, and catalyst for change. These sessions were designed to help the students prepare for the off-campus community projects the groups will be taking on for the next six weeks.

The first session, problem-solving, lead by Dr. Ehsan Salek, challenged students to solve possible problems that could arise on a college campus. The examples given were not having enough computers on campus, vandalism, and racism. Students were encouraged to come up with a solution to these problems by addressing the causes first.

During the second session, Dr. Berry lead a group talk on the topic of catalyst for change. The students sat in a big circle and discussed the rules of power tactics. Dr. Berry asked the students how they could put these tactics to use in becoming better campus leaders and bringing forth positive changes to the campus. “Gradualism isn’t going to get it done,” he added.

The third session, lead by Dr. Linda Ferguson, dealt with the students’ communication skills. They were asked to pretend that the person sitting in front of them was an alien. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were completely foreign to them and they had to write specific directions on how to concoct one. The students quickly learned the importance of clear and precise communication. What appeared to be a simple, everyday task brought on a lot of laughter among the group.

Sharon Payne lead the fourth session on team building. The groups discussed the different strategies for team building such as competition among members, individual goal setting and cooperation among all members to meet the team goal. They also discussed different styles of team work and the importance of affirming everyone’s strengths and importance within the group. She stressed the importance of working together.

The final challenge of the day came when the student leaders were asked to complete the Low Ropes Course provided by Dr. Doug Kennedy and the Recreation and Leisure Studies department. This also proved to be the most popular event of the day.

“The Low Ropes Course was definitely the best part,” said Pat Lynn, a student facilitator. “It allowed the students to work together as a team while allowing them to apply all that the learned throughout the day. It gave everyone a chance to be a leader.”

The Low Ropes Course gave the students four different activities they needed to complete as a group. The most difficult station appeared to be the “spider web”. The challenge was to get the entire group on the other side of the web without touching any of the strings and only using each hole once. The “lava walk,” presented the students with the problem of getting everyone over to the other side of the “lava” by only using a short wooden plank, a wooden beam and some rope.

In the event called “flash flood,” the object was to get everyone out of the way of the flood by standing on as few “rocks” as possible. The last event was called the “sherpa walk.” This activity consisted of long wooden beams with a series of ropes attached to them. The entire group had to get on them and work together to get them to walk.

The day ended with a much deserved pizza party and the presentation and selection of the team projects. Among those chosen were off-campus community projects at Newtown Road Elementary School, Heritage Hall Nursing Home, Lake Taylor Hospital, and the CARE program of Virginia Beach. Students will be working on these projects until April 17. A Leadership Banquet is planned on the 19th to recognize Institute participants and corporate sponsors.

“All and all, I think the weekend went very well,” said Hicks. “The objectives were met and the students came away with a better understanding of their leadership capabilities.”

According to Linda Tisdale, Director of Health Services and steering committee member for the Institute, the evaluations of the entire leadership weekend were, “overwhelmingly positive.”