Prepare to set sail for an enlightening journey of self-exploration! When I arrived at the Women’s Leadership Institute at the Ritz-Carlton, I was greeted by a large gingerbread pirate ship complete with Santa and Mrs. Claus standing outside their cabin. I wish I could hop on board and have a cup of tea with the [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Leadership category.
Setting the Table for Collaboration
Last week I had the opportunity to be a keynote speaker at the Collaboration Forum – a one-day conference for local nonprofit agencies, board members, and volunteers. I presented a short talk on volunteer management and our local database of volunteer opportunities. I enjoyed the conference and all the keynote speakers were very informative and [...]
True Colors Leadership Activity
Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading back to campus for one of my favorite parts of the start of the academic year – Student Community Services (SCS) Orientation! One of the activities that I lead each year is called True Colors. It is a personality /work-style inventory similar to the Myers-Briggs and Strengths Quest, and it [...]
Look for Alternative Breaks at Your Next Conference
I took a break from blogging last week to work on some proposals for a few upcoming local and national conferences. The past three years have been so full of program development that it was refreshing to step back and see what has been accomplished. I was pleased that we have several new developments that would [...]
AmeriCorps – The Perfect Capstone Experience
The start of a new academic year is always full of promise and potential. In my office, the beginning of each year is marked by the kickoff of our AmeriCorps program. We are part of CalServes AmeriCorps VIP, and this year we have 20 new members who will be serving at various agencies in the [...]
Are You Ready to Scale Up Your Student Development Programs?
I have been thinking a lot about program improvements and organizational structure as we prepare for the upcoming year and the addition of two full-time staff. One of my colleagues is preparing to take a leave of absence, and she has reorganized many of her files for her interim replacement. She and I were comparing [...]
Are you a 24/7 Student Development Professional?
As student development professionals, we work long hours, nights, weekends, and the occasional holiday. There is as much work as we create and there is always more to be done. For the most part our students are students 24/7, but as working professionals where do we draw the line? Last quarter I was invited to [...]
Student Development Happens Over the Summer Too
Our department is fortunate to have several students working over the summer. There has been surprisingly little down time in our office lately. We are all busy closing out budgets, evaluating last year’s programs, and projecting and planning for next year. I think there is sometimes an assumption that over the summer schools close down [...]
