The Leadership Institute seeks to further develop students into ethical and intentional leaders who value diversity and are prepared to immediately exercise effective leadership in today's changing society by cultivating the study of leadership and facilitating transformational learning experiences designed to challenge, motivate and inspire.
Beginning in March 2021, the Leadership Institute is offering a new transformational learning experience through the course: Leadership Through the Campus Experience. This course seeks to complement a student’s on-campus leadership learning experience with theoretical frameworks designed to help students maximize their learning and enhance their leadership skills and abilities. Using contemporary leadership theories related to trust and systems influence, students will begin to understand how to create and engage in productive culture changes when leadership is shared (team leadership). Trust will be explored as a key element to leadership, inclusion and culture change.
A highlight of the curriculum is immersion experiences in the summer of 2021. Students will choose to participate in one of two immersion experiences, one local and one abroad: Topeka, Kansas, and Cape Town, South Africa. Students who engage in the Topeka experience will spend four days learning from local leaders about how they use momentum and leadership to create a more inclusive community. *Students who choose the South Africa experience will spend 14 days in South Africa, studying the history of apartheid and how leaders worked collaboratively to overcome those challenges and create culture change.
These immersion experiences seek to provide students relevant case studies to observe and explore leadership used to create inclusive cultures. These transformational experiences, coupled with a campus change project, will provide students the opportunity to observe leadership, learn from accomplished leaders and apply the lessons learned in their own campus context.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, funds previously allocated for student travel have been diminished. We are seeking financial resources to offset student costs for immersions and help ensure that the course is accessible to as many students as possible.
“Simply put, I am interested in partaking in the LE320-322 course and in studying abroad as part of the leadership development I will be gaining from this class/experience because 1) I love leadership, 2) I love learning, and 3) I love traveling. I am pursuing a minor in leadership studies at Washburn because I value and enjoy being able to create and lead positive opportunities for others, all the while growing and having fun with colleagues as we foster such opportunities for Washburn's students. I believe that networking, having honest, authentic conversations and intentionally spending time with others across the globe and sharing ways of life and leadership is crucial to improving one's own leadership capabilities. I think that learning about leadership with my fellow students/campus colleagues, working together to improve our campus and our organizations, and traveling abroad together and learning from leadership-practicing individuals in South Africa would be an opportunity of a lifetime and would really band us campus leaders together. These experiences would allow us to better our campus through our own improved leadership. As college students, we already have a lot of financial responsibilities. Many of us have no money to spare as we are saving for graduate school, have no money left after paying for housing, tuition, etc. So, donor support and scholarships are what is going to allow us to take advantage of this opportunity that has been put in front of us. We have put in a lot of hard work to become the leaders and students we already are. Having the chance to learn and gain from this course and experience is well-deserved, we just need some help getting there.” – Baylee Wolf
*If this class is unable to travel due to COVID-19 then gifts will go to the general Leadership Institute Program Fund for future student travel purposes.
