This WCPA commission is titled “Leadership and Involvement” . . . so what does the collective we mean when we say this?

At the summer WCPA Board and Commission Chair meeting, we’re discussing the scope of this commission, and how it can best serve our members, which is of course you and me.  This scope question is key whenever leadership comes up as a topic.  What is leadership anyway? How do we define it? How do employers define leadership and how do they look for in our graduates? How does leadership matter in our day-do-day work?

These questions frame my thinking, but when I think of leadership and involvement, I think of students, first and foremost. What does leadership mean to them?  Do they ever think about followership?  How do we help them develop people?   How is leadership related to citizenship and to the AAC&U’s Essential Learning Outcomes (see http://www.aacu.org/leap/vision.cfm)?  And so on.  Is this commission student focused?  Are we getting together within our WCPA community to ponder challenges and best practices around student leadership development and student involvement?

Or, are we talking about us?  As professionals, what are our leadership development goals?  How do we want to be involved in our profession beyond our job titles, and how does that involvement serve us?  What is  leadership in the context of student affairs?

For this commission, at least for this year,  we’re going to focus on students . . . and of course, when we learn more about students, we’re doing our own development and work too!