L.E.A.D.ing Students Into the Future
EAST PEORIA — The Office of Student Activities is undergoing a slight facelift this month, sporting a new title while continuing to reach out to students.
For decades, ICC’s Office of Student Activities, located in office 305B in the East Peoria Academic Building, has been a place for students to go for tasks like joining student organizations or getting approval to advertise on campus. The office was functioning well, but Manager of Student Activities Abbie Alsene said the College decided that it would benefit from a name change. Hence the new title of Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE).
“We are changing our office title to better encompass all the things that we do offer in this office,” said Abbie Alsene, manager of student activities. “By changing it to Student Leadership and Engagement, we are illustrating that it’s much more than just student activities that we do.”
Alsene went on to say that she thought students saw the Office of Student Activities as a place to go to get involved in “primarily clubs and organizations,” but she hopes to use the office’s new title to show students that they aren’t limited to those typical options. There are also volunteer and leadership opportunities that she wants to see students better utilize as time goes on.
That’s not to say that the office’s atmosphere and relationship with students will really be changing. Raymond Holloway, one of the office’s student workers, feels that students shouldn’t feel alienated by the new name.
“We encourage students to come in and talk to us,” said Holloway. “We actually hope that it encourages students to want to be more engaged or become leaders on the campus.”
“I think it’s a positive move in the right direction,” said Rhonda Elmore, who was recently hired to the new position of coordinator for student leadership and engagement to help the office achieve its ambitions.
Elmore and Alsene are now working on the next evolutionary step for OSLE, and that is the implementation of a new student program called Leadership Education And Development, or “L.E.A.D.”
“It’s something that we feel like we need to offer as an opportunity for students,” said Alsene, “and when I say students, I mean all students, not just those who are currently involved. … Any student can come and join and be a part of it. That’s our way of reaching out to more than our typical audience.”
The L.E.A.D program will focus intently on building leadership within students, and Alsene said that those students who enroll in and complete the unaccredited program will be recognised for their efforts on their ICC transcripts. Alsene plans to have the program up and running for students in the spring semester.
Meanwhile, the office will continue to uphold the mission of ICC’s Student Affairs Division to help students be “confident, prepared, and empowered to meet their personal and academic goals.” Now, they will just be doing it with a new name above their door.