The Importance Of A Leader Within A Community College Setting

This past school year I have been social chair of Nursing Students Without Borders. I have organized, implemented and hosted social events throughout the Fall of 2016 and the Spring of 2017. This past year the leadership of NSWB has worked to make NSWB community focused which is why the position I held was added this past year. I have been able to mentor a pre-nursing student through NSWB. I was able to answer the questions honestly from a pre-nursing student and provide support during the application process. I have been able to participate in leadership meetings and have learned how to plan well and how to improve event planning.

The concepts of leadership, “to assist people to become more competent, purposeful, and ethical,” (Mission and vision, n.d.), fit within the mission of Siena Heights University because the institution fosters the growth of leaders by incorporating skills outside of the classroom. Educators have long known that a significant portion of student learning in college occurs outside the classroom and that faculty-student interaction is an important part of the college experience. (Cox, B. E., & Orehovec, E., 2007, p. 357). Significant research has demonstrated the importance of interaction between faculty members and students, both in and outside of the classroom (Cox, B. E., & Orehovec, E., 2007, p. 343). Faculty members possess a great deal of knowledge that can be imparted to student. This knowledge could be educational, life skills, and personal experiences that allow the student a contextual view point.

Being a leader has always been extremely important to me. The past few years I have held many leadership positions to deepen my skills as a leader. Some of my most notable leadership positions of high school were that I was the secretary of my class, the secretary of my school’s National Honor Society, a member of the Youth Council for the Teen Leadership Corps, and a Student Ambassador for my high school. I have recently been chosen as a Peer Leader for the College of Business Administration (CBA), meaning that I will be available to help incoming freshman with whatever they may need as they make the transition to college. I was also chosen by the dean to give a speech at one of the largest high school visits for the CBA in order to inspire students to choose to come to Bowling Green. This was a very important experience for me because I had many high school seniors come up to me after the speech and ask me questions and reached out for advice from me. It is important to me that people value my advice because I believe that giving good advice is an imperative part of being a leader.

In the article titled, "The Common Language of Leadership," by Corey Seelmiller and Thomas Murray, which can be found in the November 2013 edition of the Journal of Leadership Studies, the authors conducted qualitative research in an attempt to (a) define and understand the competencies needed by college students to engage in leadership in their respective career fields and (b) to use the research findings on leadership competencies in order to develop a program that will encompass all fields of academic disciplines. The authors of this article studied the comprehensive of learning outcomes of 475 academic programs within 72 academic accrediting organizations in regard to student leadership development. The assertions by Corey

As a student leader who is heavily involved in my school and community, I’ve had an abundance of opportunities and experiences to learn and grow from. Because of these opportunities, I’ve been able to discover things about myself and my community that have arrived as a pleasant surprise. Although each experience I’ve had during my high school career has impacted me in some way, whether the impact be immense or miniscule, no experience has quite shaped me as a leader as my experience with the Chick-fil-a Leader Academy did.

A community college leadership crisis endures; within the next fifteen years, ninety percent of the community college presidents are expected to retire (McNair, 2015). To remain viable, United States community colleges need an influx of self-motivated, visionary leaders. Currently, there is a gap in leadership; (Anderson, 2014, Claus, 2013, Eddy, 2013, Hannum, 2015, Jones, 2014, Leist, 2013, McArdle, 2013, McFadden, 2013, McNair, 2015, Tunheim, 2015), quality leadership (Anderson, 2014, Ayers, 2015, Claus, 2012, Cornacchione, 2013, Dahlvig, 2013, De-Frank, 2014, Eddy, 2013, Enke, 2014, Floyd, 2016, Fujii, 2014, Gardner, 2013, Goltz, 2013, Grasmick, 2012, Hannum, 2015, Jones, 2015, Kearney, 2013, Leist, 2013, McArdle, 2013, McFadden, 2013, McNair, 2015, Morley, 2013, Myran, 2013, Tartari, 2015, and Tekniepe, 2014), and gender leadership (Catalyst, 2013, Claus, 2012, Cornacchione, 2013, Dahlvig, 2013, De-Frank, 2014, Eddy, 2013, Eddy, 2015, Enke, 2014, Floyd, 2016, Fujii, 2014, Gardner, 2013, Goltz, 2013, Grasmick, 2012, Hannum, 2015, Jones, 2015, Lennon, 2013, Morley, 2013 & 2014, Ortega, 2014 and Tartari, 2015), which is related to the gender wage gap (Claus, 2012, Cornacchione, 2013, Dahlvig, 2013, Enke, 2014, Goltz, 2013, Lennon, 2013, Morley, 2014, Tartari, 2015, Tekle, 2012, Pitts, 2014, and Bell, 2014).

In the realm of the world we call college, there are many different paths one can take. When choosing the path of being an education major, one begins to see the benefits of their choice long before they see their degree. The field experience that is required with the courses one has to take for this major allow students to dip their toes into their field and get real life experience before entering the real world. This semester, I had the opportunity of working at Oasis Tutoring Center. While tutoring at this center, I was not only able to learn more about my ability to teach, but also connect these experiences to the psychology of education.

Impact of Interview on Instructional Leadership Style: After interviewing Holt, I realize I have a long way to go to be where she is in regards to instructional leadership at an elementary school level. Most of my background is secondary, and it’s a whole different ball game at the secondary level. However, the principles are the same. Administrators need to know what is going on in the classrooms and that happens by jumping in and working alongside your colleagues. The instructional leader of the school should not require anything the leader is not willing to do themselves. I need to be in the classrooms demonstrating appropriate instructional strategies. “You can’t lead where you won’t go!” I believe the leader must state expectations explicitly including, working together as a team, share my “craft knowledge” with colleagues, and help my teachers any way I can. If I can build trust, be generous and helpful as the instructional leader with teachers, then that enrichment will carryover into relationships between teachers and students, and students and students. I like Holts attention to detail in having her teachers sit down with each child before SAGE testing to discuss the data specific to the child, it gives the child direction and purpose enabling them to be successful on

If the world was a piece of sheet music, I would be the time signature. I would be the source of consistency to bring an entire population of people become of one accord. I make a difference on my team and in my community by being the pulse of the environment I'm in. This impact is embodied in my love for building and teaching.

Gradually, this expectation became a looming thought in my mind; What would I be getting out of my education, if expectations were low, and pushing the boundaries of these expectations in place was ground I had already covered? I craved more intense challenges, intellectually and creatively— creativity corresponding with my chosen field of study. The school itself isn’t inadequate in offering these challenges, but as someone who came from a beginning of competition, I felt out of place, and that I had more potential to discover and to explore. Following suit, I realized I simply needed a place that would have me use that potential, and then to go beyond that. I never wanted an easy degree; I have the ambition to struggle and to be pushed forward in new directions to find the best of myself, especially in the career field I

For the entirety of my high school career, I have been a student in the Leadership Center for the Sciences and Engineering (LCSE) held at Norview High School. Being enrolled in this specialty program has strengthened and pushed me academically, as a leader, with public speaking, and as a service worker. Specifically, LCSE has developed my leadership skills and allowed me to become a more service-oriented leader. In the first year of the program, students take Leadership Foundations where the basics of leadership and the history of great leaders are taught. Then, in Advanced Leadership students model leadership skills by hosting holiday gatherings, being counselors for the LCSE Summer Orientation Camp, and completing 200 volunteering hours.

The organizational leader I interviewed is named Dr. Darla Quadra, Campus Director at Notre Dame de Namur University. She and I met through my current position as Director at Columbia College of Missouri. She has worked as an administrator in higher education for eleven years. Dr. Quadra’s leadership style is collaborative and is student centered. She has a strong focus on students and their success. Dr. Quadra has worked with assessment, institutional research, enrollment, compliance, marketing, strategic planning, and program development.

Living in the Residential Leadership Community during my freshman year at Virginia Tech was an experience that yielded many results. For one, I developed a holistic leadership philosophy where leadership is defined as the relationship between a leader and his or her followers in which the two parties are bound by common values. In this relationship, the two parties are devoted to bringing the other to a higher level of moral character in the path toward accomplishing group goals. Social change, then, transcends through this relationship because of such moral change and goal achievement. However, leadership development did not cease with philosophical discussions concerning the definition and boundaries of leadership. After the development of our leadership theory, students were asked to partake in a “Praxis Experience,” in which each student was allowed the freedom to explore his or her personal leadership philosophy in the local community. For my project, I chose to study the leadership styles of public health officials in rural Appalachia. With this study, I worked closely with countless individuals devoted to changing the face of Appalachian health, and further developed a language to discuss the health issues plaguing the region. Because of these studies, I feel better prepared to face an ever-changing world of health care in which a physician is

Describe a specific example(s) of your personal growth and development through your leadership experiences in college. See the help text for additional direction.

Student leaders come in all shapes and sizes. They choose to lead based on their skills and preferences. Whether in social groups, athletics, or within the classroom, student leaders demonstrate certain traits that benefit both themselves and those they are leading. Generally speaking, leaders are classified as role models within the student body. They are the students who challenge the status quo, who ask questions and demand answers. They inspire athletic teams and social organizations alike; they bring to light the issues that an organization or club faces and work toward a solution. The traits and skills that these leaders exhibit socially, athletically, and academically can be both inherit and learned. The