Student Leadership Development Center opens

By BRENT CUNNINGHAM
Reporter Staff

A Student Leadership Development Center designed to help students, faculty and staff, has opened in Room 230 of the Student Union. The new center will help individuals plan programs, run meetings, orchestrate publicity and recruit members for groups, according to Ed Brodka of the Office of Student Life.

While the word "leader" usually implies a "follower," Brodka said the new center will attempt to view leadership a little differently.

"We're hoping to get every student to see how they can be a leader," said Brodka, "not just the president, vice president or secretary of a student group. At some point in their lives, everybody will be involved with some kind of public leadership, whether it's serving on a committee, volunteering for a community service project, playing sports or organizing a group event."

A staff member himself, Brodka emphasized that the center is run by professionals and paraprofessionals who are required to have training or background in organizational techniques. He added that he hopes students will feel free "to drop by and bounce ideas off of us."

Books, CD-ROMs, and audio- and videotapes on a variety of organizational topics are available at the center, which also will offer a workshop series, organizational consulting, conferences, seminars and a Leadership Peer Educator Program.

"Out in the world," said Brodka, "and especially in the business world, there are organizational consultants, and to some extent these were the model for the Student Leadership Development Center. Institutions and businesses pay a lot of money to have people advise them."

The center, which may be used free of charge by UB faculty, staff and students, is supported by the Office of Student Life through the Division of Student Affairs.

"I don't think there's a better investment we can make than helping students become better leaders," said Brodka. "If we look at campus life here at UB, many of the quality programs are developed and administered by students."

The investment will pay off for the individual student as well as the campus, Brodka claimed. "Certainly," he said, "[learning leadership skills] will add to the quality of their experience at UB, but it will also help them tremendously when they graduate. In any organization, students will end up working with groups and trying to get along in groups. They will always be asked to lead."

If "trying to get along in groups" seems like a curious way to define "leadership," Brodka characterized it as part of a broader attempt by Student Life to rethink traditional ideas about leadership.

"We want to make sure we provide something for all levels of students," he said. "The phrase 'leadership development' speaks to some people, but sometimes I think it scares other people away. Leadership is not so much telling people what to do; it's working with people to inspire them to reach a common goal. It's about empowerment."

The Student Leadership Development Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.