Enroll in the Minority Student Leadership Program

Purpose The Student Equity & Inclusion Workgroup is a student-led initiative at The University of Kansas that aims to advance equity and inclusion. Within this structure, the workgroup is entirely student-led and independent of any institutional initiatives. It has developed three themes— recognizing minority student leadership, ensuring equitable access to opportunities, and meaningfully supporting students—and used those themes to develop comprehensive programming in research, institutional advocacy, mentorship, and fellowship. Research initiatives included creating research opportunities for minority students by developing independent research projects. Institutional advocacy initiatives focused on policy change and developing a uniquely situated network of allies at and beyond the university. Mentorship centered student-to-student transmission of knowledge, skills, and support. Fellowship entailed creating opportunities for community building and recognition of minority student excellence. Conclusions Student-led initiatives such as those of the workgroup may be an effective way of supporting minority students in communication sciences and disorders. Institutions endeavoring to advance equity and inclusion should consider empowering students through facilitation of self-directed development, using institutional supports to support minority students on their terms, and recognizing students as capable partners in rethinking equity and inclusion.

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Examining pre-post results

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/jarhe-05-2018-0083 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 146-159

Author(s):

Roberta Waite ◽

Janell Mensinger ◽

Christine Wojciechowicz ◽

Angela Colistra ◽

Stephen Gambescia

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Leadership Practices ◽

Survey Design ◽

Student Leadership ◽

Health Professions ◽

Control Group ◽

Leadership Program ◽

Content Type ◽

The Usa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in scores from the Kouzes and Posner Student Leadership Practices Inventory of undergraduate students in the health professions who were engaged in a nine-month leadership program. The authors also assessed changes in scores on the same inventory for several observers who rated the students’ leadership competence and examined differences between the students’ self-assessment on leadership practices and those of their observers. Design/methodology/approach A pre-post survey design using repeated measures factorial ANOVA, Pearson correlations and paired t-tests was used to investigate the data. An α level of 0.05 was used. Findings Statistically significant changes were found in the pre- to post-surveys of students on three of the five subscales but only one of the five subscales for observers. Students’ and observers’ ratings were largely uncorrelated, with the exception of Encouraging the Heart ratings at post-program. Research limitations/implications Participants were recruited from one setting at a private university in the USA and the sample size was small. A control group was not available to offer a comparison for the outcomes of the leadership program and only quantitative data were assessed. Originality/value Data capturing undergraduate leadership practices on students in the health professions using a validated tool bring value to better understanding strategies that university faculty can use to improve students’ leadership skills.

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