Winter Leadership Conference (WLC) 2007 Overview: The World is Not Enough: It Needs You As A Socially Responsible Leader

January 11-13, 2008

The decision was made to keep the conference format the same as it has been over the past few years. Throughout the weekend, students actively engaged in a variety of large group immersion exercises and small team meetings in which they built a sense of team and participated in dialogues. To conclude the conference, a final group project required each small team to take a practical approach towards social change by selecting 1-2 current campus issues that they would like to see change, creating a plan of action for change, and presenting this plan to the entire conference community. Upon our return to campus, a summary of each of the group's "Inspired Annoyance" project was presented to the entire Division of Student Affairs.  

This year's conference goals continued to be as follows:

To engage students in a values-based, experiential curriculum that would foster personal leadership development, build a diverse community, and establish meaningful student relationships.   

We received 201 applications and can take no more than 150 students. One hundred and forty nine student leaders participated in the weekend leadership conference, including our Peer Facilitators

Curriculum

This year's conference was again centered on a leadership text and simulated/immersion exercises.  A copy of the text was provided to the participants prior to the start of the conference.  The Student Leadership Institute worked with the DePaul Leadership Project to adapt a text on the Vincentian Leadership Model for conference participants.  Students received a reading packet that highlighted the Vincentian Leadership Model and the history and life of St. Vincent de Paul.  This text was selected in response to previous conference evaluations in which the question “I gained new/deeper understanding of values-based leadership concepts, which reflect the Vincentian values of the university” scored lower than other areas.  Additionally, through its strategic plan, Vision 2012, DePaul highlights the importance of the socially responsible leader; the Vincentian Leadership Model is one model students can use to build their capacity for socially responsible leadership.

The text focused on the following concepts:

Mission

·Vision

·Values

·Innovation

People

·Inclusiveness

·Collaboration

·Communication

Service

·Empowerment

·Social Justice

·Service

Task

·Commitment

·Pragmatism

·Risk-taking

Evaluation

Based upon participant evaluations, the Winter Leadership Conference 2008 proved to be quite a success.  Retreat evaluations were presented to all 149 students (including Peer Facilitators). 89% of conference participants returned completed evaluation forms, and 89% of the Peer Facilitators completed evaluation forms.  

Following is a list of the evaluation highlights:

§   92% of conference participants agreed that the values/qualities identified for the conference are important to their development as a leader.

§   89% would recommend this type of conference experience to another student.

§   86% believed that the conference contributed to their personal development.

§   97% of students felt that their facilitators established good relationships between team members and encouraged group participation; and 99% believed that the facilitators created a positive learning environment during their individual team sessions.

§   90% of conference participants believed that they were able to gain a respect for diverse perspectives of others, as well as feel more comfortable moving across cultural, racial, and ethnic boundaries.

§   92% believed that the values/qualities identified for the conference were facilitated in a meaningful way.

§   88% of students felt that the exercises they experienced in the large group promoted their personal development.

§   87% of students felt that their experience with the conference would increase their desire to further engage in leadership involvement at DePaul.

Some other general themes noted throughout the students’ evaluations of the conference were as follows:

·   Students appreciated learning about Vincentian Values and how to use them in their daily lives.

·   Students enjoyed having a reading about the life of St. Vincent de Paul and how he led.

·   Overall, students enjoyed their facilitation teams and saw them as beneficial.

·   Students cited learning more about their leadership style as a result of the conference.

·   Students appreciated the opportunity to meet people from diverse backgrounds as a part of the conference.  Additionally there were a number of students who mentioned the formation of new friendships were a hi-light of the weekend.

·   Many students felt the conference helped them to move outside their comfort zone.

·   Students saw the conference as an opportunity to reflect on their experiences with leadership.

·   Students reported developing intrapersonal skills as a result of the weekend.

·   The evaluations showed students felt a responsibility/desire to make change on campus as a result of the conference.

A special thank you must go out to all of the departments that helped out with this year's leadership conference: Student Life, Campus Recreation, the Office of Academic Enhancement, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, University Ministry, Student Center and Student Affairs. Also, a HUGE thank you must go out to our Peer Facilitators and student planning committee!