Leadership Institute at SUNY Poly

Alums of the 2017 Leadership Institute at SUNY Poly.

What is it take to identify problems on your campus? What are the best ways to tackle those problems? And how can realistic but effective solutions be put into action?

These are some of the challenges that college students face their entire academic career, and with the help of the SUNY Poly Leadership Institute, many were given the tools to answer them.

Just before the Spring semester got underway, students gathered on campus for the Leadership Institute – three days of uninterrupted time to dialogue with peers about leadership skill development while working on action plans to create change on campus.

Leadership Institute is designed to have students learning skills through experiences. Rather than just have presenters speak on particular topics for the entire program, facilitators instead led mini-lessons on brainstorming, action planning, presenting, networking, and putting it all to work.

“Everyone has different learning styles and we try to take those into account when planning. A large portion of the program is dedicated to students understanding who they are as student leaders – how their backgrounds and identities influence how they and more importantly, why, they lead,” said Megan Wyett, Director of Student Conduct and Leadership Development at SUNY Poly. “We also do not want the lesson of developing these hard and soft skills to get lost so it is important balance we try to create throughout the whole program.”

Interim President Dr. Sammakia gives his remarks to the 2017 Leadership Institute at SUNY Poly.

Now in its second year, Leadership Institute is a program spinning out of POLY LEADS, the overall leadership development program at SUNY Poly. A comprehensive retreat-style program, Leadership Institute is purposely scheduled at a time when students do not have class assignments to worry about or other competing priorities of everyday campus life. The need is to provide an opportunity for students to learn about how to create change and advocating to enhance the student experience.

“They have 15 minutes to share the work they have done over the institute and highlight how their campus action plan would benefit the campus community,” Wyett said. “We had a panel of 8 commentators (faculty, staff and administrators) who listen to each presentation, ask questions and give feedback about the plans. It also helps for those campus stakeholders to see what issues students are facing on campus and even how they might be able to help actualize the action plans.”

Organizers say the hope is that students will take the leadership lessons back to their residence halls, student clubs & organizations and be able to pass on the knowledge they gained, while continuing to work on their action plans and not lose sight of their ideas amid the hectic pace of the semester.

Students work in break-out groups during the 2017 Leadership Institute at SUNY Poly.

“Students who are already talking about wanting to come back next year, when the program is just wrapping up, is always a good sign that the planning committee provided a worthwhile experience,” said Wyett.

While planning for the next Leadership Institute does not get underway until October, organizers have already reached out to 49 participants and 14 peer facilitators to get their feedback on what else can be done and how more students can get involved.