First year college students have the opportunity to develop critical leadership skills as a part of the First Year Experience program led by the Center for Undergraduate Student Achievement (CUSA).
SU Leads and iLead@SU are two leadership development programs sponsored by CUSA, mainly aimed at incoming freshmen.
Students participate in a series of sessions and activities during the Fall and Spring semesters, ranging from topics such as improving communication skills, teamwork, and conflict resolution with several hands on activities.
First year experience coordinator, Sharae Celestine speaks on the purpose of the leadership development sessions.
“The programs are geared towards helping students be well rounded professionally, be marketable, learning how to deal with different situations that you might encounter when you’re in leadership positions,” said Celestine.
According to the University’s CSUA web page, “The First Year Experience program (FYE) focuses on the overall identity development of first year college students at Southern University and A&M College. First Year Experience at SUBR provides opportunities that allow self-discovery, student development, and bridge the high school to college transition”.
Although the goal is to develop freshmen into leaders for the enhancement of their University experience, upperclassmen are also encouraged to apply.
Students must participate and complete the entry-level program, SU leads, before moving on to the second component, iLead@SU.
From an excerpt acquired from the University’s official website, “SU LEADS (held in the fall and spring semesters) is the entry-level leadership program for participants with the desire to serve in leadership roles at Southern University. These participants will be introduced to various strategies to enhance academic performances and self-awareness… Participants will leave the program with new personal revelations and strategic approaches for navigating through the professional world.”
Upon completion of SU leads, students are granted the opportunity to move onto the second component, titled iLead@SU.
As a recommended prerequisite for students interested in becoming a Jaguar Ambassador, Resident Assistant, Orientation Leader or Freshman Seminar Mentor, iLead@SU participants must be in good academic standing in order to partake.
The program is focused on sharpening the skills necessary to serve the University through leadership positions.
Students participate within self-elections and also recruit others to participate in the program.
“It starts to market itself based off the students,” Celestine stated.
Junior Mass Communication major and SGA Sophomore Class President, Anthony Kenney, successfully completed the development program and spoke on how it prepared him to become an active leader within his class.
“I recommend it to anybody who is looking forward to being a leader or a great person in general. I definitely seen a lot of people grow from the program. There’s a lot of people who took that leadership role and leadership skills, and just jumped exponentially,” Kenney finished.
It is suggested that anyone interested in joining the Student Government Association, Association for Women Studies, Collegiate 100 or Greek letter organizations participate in the program.
After completion of both SU Leads and iLead@SU, participants will partake in a symposium at the end of the Spring semester, including a pinning ceremony.
The highlights of the events are the guest speakers, which are usually close to the students in age, who provide positive insight and inspiration.
Associate Dean of Students, Ryan Tucker, speaks on the benefits of students successfully completing the program.
“We want to make sure that all of our students have the positive leadership development skills to make that transition from the collegiate level to the workforce.”
Tucker goes on to state that after completing the program, a student should demonstrate top leadership development skills that you should have, including writing resumes, how to dress professionally, how to facilitate a meeting and how to prepare for a career fair.
Any freshmen interested in being a part of the program are encouraged to stop by the Center for Undergraduate Student Achievement at 1075 Harris Hall.
First Year Experience coordinator Sharae Celestine speaks to students about development and leadership during the SU Leads development workshop.
