Sometimes even the word leadership is intimidating, but Denise Carl said the University of Idaho Department of Student Involvement is attempting to interest students in leadership through its programs Lunches with Leaders and Snacks with Students.
Hayden Crosby | Argonaut
University of Idaho students speak with Dean of Students Bruce Pitman, while eating a free lunch at the event Lunch with Leaders at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Idaho Commons Clearwater Room.
“It’s an opportunity to hear from people in positional leadership roles … where they can share the journey of where they have been to where they are now,” said Carl, coordinator of student engagement.
Carl said Lunches with Leaders is similar to a program at Seattle University, where she attended graduate school. Carl worked with involvement student coordinators Andrew Blake, Laura Exley and Sadie Hanigan to organize Lunches with Leaders, which started last spring.
“Our goal is to get students to connect with university leaders in a conversational setting,” Exley said.
UI Dean of Students Bruce Pitman was the leader featured in the first Lunches with Leaders of the semester Wednesday. Carl said the program will take place at 11:30 a.m. one Wednesday each month in the Clearwater Room in the Idaho Commons. The leaders scheduled for the remaining programs are Dean of the College of Business and Economics Mario Reyes, Sayantani Dasgupta, lecturer for the Department of English and Dean of Library Services Lynn Baird.
“We have a diverse perspective ranging from leaders within student affairs and the academic side to show how race, ethnicity and gender impact experience in leadership roles,” Carl said.
Carl said each program lasts about 50 minutes to fit within students’ class schedules, and because of the informal setting it is OK if people arrive late or have to leave early.
At the end of each program, Carl said they ask for input about general improvements they can make as well as suggested leaders participants would like to see. Snacks for Students is a spinoff program of Lunches with Leaders resulting from participants’ feedback in the surveys.
ASUI Vice President Nick Tunison presented during the first Snacks with Students at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the ASUI Office of Student Development. Involvement coordinators Exley and Hanigan said Snacks with Students is a way to show students about different opportunities at UI.
“A lot of students don’t know opportunities are available until it’s too late,” Exley said.
Carl said students are encouraged to ask questions during the programs and to network with leaders to build support systems.
“It’s about having those personal connections to help you navigate what can be confusing or stressful or frustrating in college and to expose them to opportunities they may not have been exposed to otherwise,” she said.
Although university leaders may seem scary and inaccessible, Carl said hearing how people who were once students achieved their goals is helpful in putting UI students’ own goals in perspective.
Exley said there are several formal leadership opportunities for students at UI, but it is not often that they get to sit down and have a conversation with leaders such as the dean of students.
“It’s putting a face to a name and a personality to a position,” she said.
Hanigan said they are asking leaders from a variety of departments, such as the Women’s Center, to present during Snacks with Students. These programs are educational, but also great networking opportunities, she said.
“I think it brings the university closer together as a community because a lot of people know someone’s title but not what they do,” Hanigan said.
Elisa Eiguren can be reached at [email protected]