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Amy Wilson is associate director of the Leadership Development Center in the Division of Student Affairs.
What is the Leadership Development Center?
The Leadership
Development Center (LDC) provides opportunities for students to develop
and enhance their leadership skills and empower them to make a
difference in their community. The LDC is a comprehensive resource
center where students can engage in a variety of learning environments
that appeal to their style, whether that is through a leadership course,
a workshop or community service.
What does it mean to be a leader?
To us in the LDC, a
leader is someone who is actively engaged in his or her community,
however he or she defines that community—whether it is a residence
hall, a student organization, the university, or the greater Buffalo
community. Leaders are those who demonstrate the desire and initiative
to make a positive change in whatever community they belong. Therefore,
the LDC is here to help students further develop the knowledge and
skills they need in order to make a positive impact.
Is leadership something you're born with, or can you learn to be a
leader?
While it does seem that some people are born with
inherent leadership qualities, anyone can learn to be a leader. As I
mentioned before, leaders are those who demonstrate willingness, a
desire or initiative to make something happen, and we can help students
become more aware of themselves and how they work with others to
accomplish change. Leadership also is a demonstration of building
positive working relationships with others and through learning about
personalities, communication, team-building and more, students can learn
to be more effective leaders in their community.
Why is leadership development important for students?
Leadership development, education and training are important for a
number of reasons. On a personal level, learning about ourselves and
about others and how we interact in this world will help students to be
more successful in everyday relationships and help them develop an
awareness of themselves and their passions. On a professional level, we
know that leadership ability is the number one quality that employers
are looking for in graduates today. To be able to demonstrate experience
working in teams, the ability to communicate effectively and the ability
to take initiative and make a commitment within a community are
important skills for working in most, if not all, environments. The
skills students learn through involvement in clubs, organizations,
athletic teams and other campus initiatives are really invaluable life
skills. The LDC furthers these opportunities through workshops,
trainings and conferences.
Describe some of your programs.
We like to look at
learning in three ways: as leadership training, leadership education and
leadership development. We provide leaders of student organizations with
training through our SOUL (Students in Organizations Understanding
Leadership) program. This online certificate program takes students
through the Student Organization Handbook (a guide for running an
organization) and then tests them on their knowledge of the various
subjects. This is a new program this year and we had more than 100
students enroll. We provide leadership education through the Life and
Learning workshops that we facilitate, along with the Outreach Workshops
that we do for organizations and classes. We also offer three different
courses in leadership that focus on different levels of a student's
leadership journey. The internship course provides students with an
opportunity to apply what they have learned through their role as a
Leadership Peer Educator, presenting workshops on time management,
public speaking and why it is important to get involved. This is an
environment for further leadership development, much like Leadership
House, which is a first-year, living-learning community where students
who are interested in leadership development live together on one floor
in Governors and take an introductory leadership course together. This
is one of the more successful programs due to the interaction of
students and the ability to practice what they are learning in their
living-learning community. In the spring, we offer two different
programs, one of which is called the Emerging Leaders Forum for students
who are looking to begin their leadership journey and don't know where
to begin. The other program is REALM (Real Experience and Leadership
Mentoring), a one-day shadow experience where UB students are paired
with leaders in the Buffalo community to see how leadership is practiced
in an everyday setting. We are also responsible for providing
opportunities for students to be engaged in the community, both on and
off campus. Therefore, we serve as a liaison and resource for students
looking to do service in the community and connecting them with
agencies. We also plan small initiatives, such as Saturdays of Service
and Crafts for a Cause, in which students last month made holiday
stockings for children and senior citizens that were taken to the Gloria
Parks Community Center. We also help coordinate UB Pride and Service Day
in the spring, which is a campus-wide clean-up effort before
commencement.