It’s late fall, and that means everyone on the semester cycle is looking ahead to the much-needed Thanksgiving and winter breaks. We crave the deep rest, slower schedules, and lack of deadlines that longer breaks can provide. But just around the corner—BAM. RAs are returning to campus, you’re getting full-swing into mid-year training with both students and professional staff and honestly, it feels like you just got blindsided by a truck careening away with a bedful of leftover holiday candy.
So why don’t you do the thing that we all secretly want to do?
Cancel training. Seriously. Just don’t do it.
Or at least don’t do training in the traditional way. (You knew it wasn’t going to be quite that easy…)
A few years ago, my institution decided to go out on a limb and try an entirely new initiative in place of what had been a pretty typical spring training regimen. We used to hold a spring training that largely reflected the format and topics of fall training: presentations on relevant topics, some teambuilding exercises, and lots of reminders and updates. It wasn’t that it didn’t work, but some very thoughtful people on our team wondered if there was a way to better use those first few days before the spring semester started.
That’s where the Spring Leadership Conference was born. What if we evolved training from a refresh on how to do your job to a professional development opportunity? Not all undergraduates have the chance to attend a conference, so why not bring that offering right to them? Even better, what if the conference was primarily peer-driven, with student staff presenting to each other on topics they were passionate and knowledgeable about? Our team ran with this idea and it was a hit. Here are a few elements of the now-annual Spring Leadership Conference that make it successful:
- We invite all groups of student staff to participate. While this idea blossomed within our RA Training Committee, they opened it up to Learning Community Peer Mentors, Desk Assistants, and Hall Government Officers from day one. We open the presentation proposal process to everyone so that we have a mix of presenters and topics. Topics have included:
- Balancing Act: Mastering Work/Life Balance
- Mastering the Art of Conversation: Techniques for Engaging and Meaningful Dialogue
- Why Diversity is Important to Leaders
- Using Words of Affirmation in Leadership
- The Art of Saying No: Boundaries for Professional Success
- Program Expo – RAs facilitate programs that have been successful so that others can experience them and gather new ideas
The mixed crowd promotes camaraderie across our staff teams. The planning team also includes a healthy handful of student staff working alongside professional staff.
- We assume this is the first conference for everyone. One of the goals of this format is to introduce students to the environment and expectations of a professional conference. We set the tone ahead of time with some recommendations on business casual dress and coming to the conference with a learning attitude. We lead a short “what to expect” session early on Day 1 to help folks understand the schedule and how they can best take advantage of the conference.
- One of the most successful components of the conference is the Leadership Luncheon, held as the closing element on Day 2. I have to admire the chutzpah of the inaugural conference planning team—they had big dreams for this luncheon and it paid off. They invited around 45 campus leaders, enough for one at each table of student staff. And they didn’t shy away from the big guns. They invited everyone from our academic deans to directors of student life units to our Chancellor himself. The best part? They got a heck of a lot of “yesses.” We gave them some context about what we were trying to achieve—to show these young leaders how to dream big and think about how they define leadership for themselves. They then led the lunchtime conversation with the students, getting to know them, asking and answering questions, and giving our students a great opportunity to network.
- We didn’t give up on fun. Just because we switched over to a conference model doesn’t mean we threw out the goofiness that is integral to Residence Life student staff. We integrated a few teambuilders and energizers to keep things lively. The planning team also themed the conference (our first conference was red carpet themed; this year is “Camp Leadership”), allowing for some fun elements leading up to and throughout the conference.
- The conference has an efficient timeframe. We’re not stretching this over the course of the week and allowing fatigue to set in on day three. The Spring Leadership Conference is a tight day-and-a-half, with the second day’s afternoon usually reserved for in-hall or team time. Here’s a sample schedule:
- Day 1
- 9-10:15am – Welcome, First Keynote, “What to Expect”
- 10:15-12:00pm – Two presentation sessions
- 12:00-1:30pm – Lunch in the dining hall
- 1:30-2:00pm – Teambuilder
- 2:00-3:30pm – Two presentation sessions
- 3:30-5:00pm – Time with supervisors
- Day 2
- 9-10:15am – Welcome, Second Keynote
- 10:15-12:00pm – Two presentation sessions
- 12:00-1:30pm – Leadership Luncheon
- 1:30-onward – Time with supervisors
- Day 1
The Spring Leadership Conference isn’t a change we executed overnight—it took a lot of planning and coordination among some very dedicated staff members. But once the switch was made, there was so much excitement and gratitude for a new way to begin the semester that we knew we had hit gold. So if you’ve ever thought, “I wish I could just cancel that training…” well, why don’t you?
