PREX 404

This learning experience will provide students of any major with a two-tiered approach for developing and practicing basic leadership skills as they prepare for professional work while addressing legitimate needs locally or globally.

Students are encouraged to collaborate with community/global partners and align these experiences with their personal strengths and prospective career paths.

Approved experiences must provide an opportunity for the student to lead others through the planning, implementation, management and assessment of a sizable project that addresses a legitimate campus, community or global problem or need.

What This PRE Looks For

Approved experiences must:

• Include a minimum of 50 hours of documented work time on the project and extend for the duration of at least one semester.
• Address a legitimate problem or need with a proposed solution.
• Include oversight by a designated faculty/staff mentor in conjunction with the Center for Personal & Professional Development to insure that the criteria approved is maintained throughout.
• Include a plan for sustainability, cost and resources.
• Include weekly journal entries logging a detailed account of the experience with guided prompts for specific reflection at appropriate intervals.
• Include scheduled mentor progress meetings to provide guidance at appropriate intervals throughout the experience.
• Provide a detailed assessment/reflection report evaluating and demonstrating the effectiveness of their leadership and its outcomes upon completion of the experience.

Possible Leadership Opportunities

• After school drama program for a local school
• Job skills program for local people in transition or homeless
• Nutrition/education programs for a local school
• Community garden program for low-income neighborhoods
• Transportation program for local elderly or disabled
• Micro-loan program for impoverished community abroad
• Local/global small business incubator projects

What Students Will Learn

The Project Supervisor and student will develop student learning outcomes specific to the PRE, prior to the experience.

General learning areas to which this experience will contribute are:

• Define leadership in terms relative to their career objectives.
• Describe and use their top five themes of talent to enhance their personal leadership tendencies.
• Assess personal performance in leadership roles served in.
• Identify and distinguish the characteristics of both effective and poor leadership within a given context.
• Develop and implement a personal plan for aligning leadership opportunities with their strengths.
• Demonstrate the ability to develop and pursue SMART goals aligned with their personal strengths relative to their chosen career path.
• Demonstrate the ability to solve problems effectively using critical thinking skills.
• Establish and demonstrate effective time management skills.
• Identify and integrate practices for creating effective leadership teams.
• Develop collaborative relationships for accomplishing agreed upon goals.
• Adapt and reinforce communication strategies for leading effectively.
• Collaborate effectively to plan, implement, manage and assess a project that addresses a legitimate campus, community or global problem or need.
• Assess the outcomes of their experience and apply this to future career goals.

Process For Completing A PRE Leadership Program

The development, execution and assessment of this experience will be guided by an advisory team comprised of the faculty member(s) overseeing the experience along with designated staff from the Center for Personal and Professional Development.

Step 1:

Contact the Center for Personal and Professional Development to indicate intention of completing this option at [email protected].

Step 2: Complete Specific Prerequisites (Tier 1)

The prerequisites listed below provides a foundation for developing self-awareness and basic leadership competencies with opportunities for students to discover and apply their strengths, passions and purpose to guide them as they design a practical leadership experience.

Required Prerequisites:

• Attend the LEAD Summer Institute as an incoming freshman.

or

• Complete the StrengthsQuest Assessment and reflection assignments.
• Attend the two-part “Strengths Finder Workshop”
• Attend the “Make it Happen” workshop to learn how to design, propose, implement, sustain, and assess solutions to problems and needs worth addressing.
• Read: Rath, T. & Conchie, B. (2009). Strengths Based Leadership. New York: Gallop Press.

Step 3: Create A Proposal (Tier 2)

Design and submit a proposal for your leadership experience with oversight by a designated faculty member. These proposals will be reviewed/approved by their advisory team with oversight by the Center for Personal and Professional Development. Student proposals will need to demonstrate how they will put into practice the relevant knowledge and skills acquired in the exploration tier to continue to develop these in preparation for leadership in professional work.

• Students should submit proposals by email to the Center for Personal and Professional Development.
• Proposals will be reviewed/approved by the advisory team in consultation with the student.
• Once the proposal is approved, students will complete their experience as directed in step 4.

Step 4: Execution of PRE Experience

Once a student proposal is approved, the student will begin their experience by implementing their proposed project with oversight from the advisory team. Students are also required to attend the “Highly Effective Teams Workshop” before or during the semester in which they are completing their experience.

Step 5: Assessment & Grading

Students will submit a detailed assessment/reflection report evaluating and demonstrating the effectiveness of their leadership and the specific project outcomes upon completion of the experience. Final reports will be reviewed by their advisory team to insure that the intended learning outcomes are fulfilled. Once this is confirmed, a grade of pass/fail will be submitted to the Registrar’s Office. Should a student desire to file an appeal contesting the evaluation of their PRE experience, the normal grade appeal process will be followed.