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Vancouver Community College’s Leadership Club for Students: Lessons Learned from Year One. Presented By: Sean Hinton and Melissa Grover 3 rd Annual Student Leadership Symposium May 22, 2008 Kwantlen University College – Richmond Campus. Overview. Program Overview Program Development
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Vancouver Community College’s Leadership Club for Students: Lessons Learned from Year One Presented By: Sean Hinton and Melissa Grover 3rd Annual Student Leadership Symposium May 22, 2008 Kwantlen University College – Richmond Campus
Overview • Program Overview • Program Development • Recruitment • Program phase 1 • Program phase 2 • Community Leadership Project • Lessons Learned • Conclusion
Program Overview VCC Leadership Club for Students: • 8-Month Program • Weekly Meetings • 1.5 hour meetings • 3 Parts Leadership Development • 1 Part Guest Speaker • 1 Part Self-Reflection • 3 Parts Community Leadership Project • Scrapbook
Program Development • Identified need, value and fit within the organization. • “Scrubbed” best practices. • Surveyed VCC students, employees and graduates through our annual student census and various meetings. • Approached the first year of the program as a pilot. • Guest speakers a must! • Project funding. • Recruitment material/web space. • Meeting material… distributed prior to or after the meeting?
Recruitment • Web page developed on VCC site. • Signage distributed around the college (banners, brochures, place cards, link to web page) inviting all students to an information session. • Booths at student services orientation events. • Information session at each campus. • Club email address and group created. • Incentives are a must!
Leadership Club – Phase One • September to December 2007. • Started with 25, ended with 8 – 12 regulars. • Heavy focus on introduction to leadership and guest speakers. • Consistency and continuity is key in this stage. • Focus on building a solid group dynamic. • Mentorship is very important – Participants found their own or we helped identify them.
Leadership Club – Phase Two • January to April 2008. • Started with 4, ended with 3. • More focus on facilitated discussion, dialogue and debate. • Support the community leadership project. • No guest speakers. • Focus on compiling the scrapbook.
The Community Project Expectations Process Outcomes What We Learned
The Community Project - Expectations Opportunity to Use Leadership Plan and Leadership Skills Leave a Mark in the Community
The Community Project - Process Volunteer Opportunities - Ongoing Discussion Brainstorm Possibilities Draft a Work Plan - Assign and Perform Tasks Carry Out Project – Event
The Community Project - Outcomes Time Spent Choosing a Project Decision-Making Assignment of Responsibilities Carry Out of Tasks The Event
The Community Project – What We Learned Make Intentions and Expectations Clear Provide Participants with Direction Decide how Decisions will be Made Awareness of Available Resources Be Flexible
Lessons Learned • Tailor your program to suit your institution, and even the cohort that you will be working with. • Do not provide a lot of work to be completed outside of the group, no homework! • Consistency is key; every meeting must take place as scheduled and should be with the same group of facilitators. • There will be no shortage of guest speakers available. • Our program could have been condensed; keep it simple and packed full of information. • Those who finish the program will find it an invaluable experience that complements their studies. • Incentives are a good way of keeping people motivated.
Lessons Learned Continued • Attrition was our biggest challenge in year one. • Funding will be a challenge to many; there are many sources of funding for these projects available. • Strengthen your program by having a student advisory group (important for feedback). • Taking time to extract feedback from those who completed the program was extremely useful. • Understand the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of your program. • What made the program unique was the community project, access to mentors and guest speakers.
Conclusion Student Testimonials: “The club has helped bring me to my next step in my life journey” “ This club has taught me a lot about myself, others, and group dynamics”. “ This club has helped me on my journey of creating a legacy for the community”.
Contact Us Vancouver Community College Leadership Club for Students Sean Hinton – shinton@vcc.ca – 604.871.7158 Melissa Grover – mgrover@vcc.ca – 604.443.8313