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Student Senate hosts annual Leadership Summit

News | 10.25.2013
Leadership Summit 2012

The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (SMWC) Student Senate will host its third annual Leadership Summit on Sat., Nov. 16, 2013. The focus of the summit is to develop and improve students’ leadership skills by providing presentations, resources and opportunities. This year’s summit, titled “The Pieces of Leadership: A Whole is the Sum of its Parts,” is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the SMWC Rooney Library.

The Leadership Summit was created nearly two years ago when the Student Senate recognized a need to cultivate leadership skills. Students designed it to enhance leadership opportunities already available at the Woods, while also offering high quality, dynamic and inspiring presentations.

“College is an important time to learn leadership skills and abilities because you have opportunities to collaborate with both your peers and seasoned professionals, engage in leadership in more than one facet and receive valuable feedback that might not be available in other settings or contexts,” states Student Senate President, Sherry Bube ’14.

Keynote speaker at the event, Josette Rathbun, MBA, ’85, the First Vice President of Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch, has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. She deals with retirement planning, asset management, alternative investments and diversifying concentrated positions of stock. Rathbun also serves on the boards of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the International Violin Competition. She is an advisor for UNCF for the State of Indiana and has served on the Foundation Board of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis.

The first session, titled “Psychology of a Group,” will be presented by Glenna Simons, JD and Sherry Schnake, Ph.D. Simons is an associate professor of sociology and department chair at SMWC, and Schnake is a professor of psychology at SMWC. This session will focus on teamwork and how those in leadership roles can navigate group dynamics.

“Leadership requires the willingness to acknowledge that, as the leader, you aren’t able to do every single thing,” states Bube. “The goal can be reached more effectively with invested engagement of all team members.”

The second session, titled “Gender Operations: Women as Leaders,” will be presented by Amanda Moore ‘12G. Moore is a graduate of the Master of Leadership Development program at SMWC and has participated in the Leadership Summit in the past as a panelist. This session will focus on women in leadership roles and how gender plays a part.

“It’s important for women to develop their leadership skills and abilities because leading necessitates the ability to inspire self and others toward achieving a common goal, while also imparting skills and producing an outcome that is beneficial to all involved,” states Bube. “No matter the occupation, involvement or level of commitment, these skills will assist in personal and professional development that lasts for a lifetime.”

The summit is free to all SMWC students – campus, online and graduate. For more information, email senate@smwc.edu.