Leading in the Community
Leadership is in the Topeka Community.
The Leadership Institute partners with organizations and projects throughout the community to create opportunities for students to affect change. Students often find their work in the community satisfies requirements for the Washburn Transformational Experience and the Leadership Studies Certificate. These partnerships also help students develop mentoring relationships with community leaders and create networking opportunities beneficial to their careers.
The following are examples of student leadership activities in the community, but they do not represent an exhaustive list of opportunities.
Heartland Visioning
Heartland Visioning is a community-wide initiative to develop and implement a shared, strategic vision for what the community wants to be in 5, 10 or 20 years. The community is defined as Shawnee County, which includes Auburn, Rossville, Topeka, Silver Lake, Willard and unincorporated Shawnee County. Students have taken leadership roles in the Heartland Visioning initiative on individual and team levels.
Individual Leadership
As part of an internship for LE 400, Danielle Van Laeys established a goal to use social media to more effectively connect high school and college students with the Heartland Visioning initiative. The results of the internship increased student participation on Heartland Visioning committees, kept the project fresh in the minds of Shawnee County students and paved the way for future interaction and involvement.
Team Leadership
As part of their LE 300 change project, a team of students established a project with the following mission: "To encourage the community to actively assimilate and encourage college age people in the 'Knowledge Corridor' to establish an emotional connection with the community." The project had two primary results: 1) a "WU and You" insert in the Topeka Capitol Journal highlighting the contributions Washburn University and its students bring to the community, and 2) expansion of the iSave program, which provides students with discounted goods and services to local businesses. Both project outcomes included sustainability plans so the results would continue in the future.
Student Team: Angel Romero, Jake Thomas, Kylie Gilstrap and Erica Nuss
United Way
The Leadership Institute has partnered with the United Way for nearly ten years to provide leadership training for new members of a non-profit board of directors. Shanna Bruce worked closely with the Volunteer Center of the United Way to improve the training process and enhance the experience for all participants. The project used primary research with former participants and instructors to enhance course content and add variety to class format and instruction delivery.
Bonner Leaders
The Center for Community Service and Civic Engagement is the sponsor of the LinC Scholar/Bonner Leader Program at Washburn University. The Bonner program engages students in service and civic work to strengthen their communities, build relationships with community partners and develop a broader campus infrastructure for community service. For more information about the Bonner Leader program at Washburn, please visit their website.
