The Staley School of Leadership Studies is committed to promoting learning both inside and outside the classroom. In addition to service-learning and civic engagement activities, students also have opportunities to learn through travel and participation at conferences and other leadership development activities.
Over the years, our faculty and staff have traveled to present at several different conferences around the country and the world to continue their leadership learning and advance the field of leadership studies. Often, there is a role for students in this important work. Staley School students have joined faculty to share their experiences with certain courses or programs or their contributions to research.
These opportunities provide valuable learning to our students, who are engaged across the university and participating in undergraduate research. Learn more about the student travel and conference opportunities that took place last year in this blog!
One signature conference that has involved Staley School students is the annual International Leadership Association (ILA) Conference, where teams of students participated in a student case competition. The case competition asks students to analyze a real world case involving contemporary leadership issues. Teams compete in two divisions, undergraduate and graduate, through a written brief, a poster, and final presentation. In the process, students demonstrate an understanding of the case’s underlying leadership issues while developing strategic recommendations for addressing the key issues in the case from a leadership perspective. This annual, global conference has been hosted at various locations both domestically and internationally.
Opportunities like ILA allow student to enhance their leadership knowledge through interfaces with internationally-recognized leadership scholars and practitioners. K-State’s teams have had tremendous success in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions and have brought home First Place at many of these conferences (including the 2017 Team)! Most importantly, each student left with new experiences and perspectives on leadership!
These leadership and professional development opportunities are critical, for both our students and our faculty, to continue their learning on leadership and bring that knowledge back to the work they do on campus and beyond.
Supporting Student Opportunities
Continuing to offer these opportunities will require resources, and helping the Staley School build its capacity in this area is just another great reason to support the “Leadership for Life” Fund! Look for more opportunities to engage as we celebrate #20YearsSSLS, and we invite you to learn more about how you can be part of sustaining these efforts through the next 20 years at bit.ly/LeadershipForLife!