Encouraging student leadership
The Student Leadership Programs Community of Practice (CoP) alternates between regular catch-ups for coordinators of programs involving peer-to-peer support and leadership and open meetings. All staff are welcome to attend these open meetings, with discussion themes focused on topics highly relevant to students in leadership roles, and to staff who want to support the development of student/staff partnership approaches within the university.
The CoP’s April meeting, themed ‘Empowering Student Leaders’ brought together six students and seven staff to discuss the kinds of leadership guidance and training students feel are most effective for developing and maintaining the skills and knowledge students need to engage confidently with university staff and lead other students. They also discussed what actions and behaviours empower others, and what types of interaction can encourage or discourage students thinking about stepping up to leadership.
The message from attendees was clear: staff encouragement can make a significant difference to whether or not a student puts themselves forward for a leadership role, and a little bit of demonstrated trust goes a long way to empower students to feel confident to be open with feedback, and with their ideas for change.
Two equally significant ideas also discussed were the flow-on effect of being encouraged to take on new roles and responsibilities from staff to current student leaders, to newer students considering leadership, and the importance of providing safe and accessible processes for feedback and advice.
CoP members will be working towards embedding these approaches into the guidelines for their own programs and their own mentorship practice. A full outline of the advice our student leaders had for us is available – please contact co-facilitators Chelsea Avard and Llewy Smith to find out more.
Student-Staff Workshop: ‘Understanding and Engaging with your Institution’
Piper Bell, Coordinator of Student Voice Australia, followed the student discussion with a brief overview of the national organisation (currently hosted by the University of Adelaide), ways for students and staff to become involved, and key upcoming activities including the SVA Symposium and Student Summit.
The Student Leadership Programs Community of Practice will also be working to co-facilitate a workshop using a resource developed by Piper to support attending students in gaining an understanding of the institutional structure of the University, and guide them towards the development of a change project initiative.
This workshop will involve students invited from a number of key peer leader/mentor programs, and staff from a broad range of areas and levels of the university.
Please contact Chelsea Avard for further details if you are a member of staff who would like to be involved in this session, to help students understand the diverse relationships within the University and help them develop their ideas from concept to pitch.