Welcome to Student Leadership at Stephen F. Austin!

Welcome to Student Leadership at SFA! The center is designed to serve the students of SFA with all of their leadership needs. From seminars to develop your leadership skills to a leadership library with resources for you to check out there is something for every student. Best of all we plan all of our events and services to fit into your schedule. By offering all of our services in print, web and live formats it is our hope that we can connect with all of you. Below you will find a listing of our services. Click on the heading to go to that program's homepage and more information.

Programs and Services

Emerging Leaders Program
30 Days Series
Last Lecture Series
First Friday Series
Freshman Leadership Academy
Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK)
SFA Student Leadership Awards
SFA Presidential Volunteer Service Award
SFA Leadership Library and Downloads

Emerging Leaders Program
The emerging leaders program is designed for students who are involved with student organizations at SFA or are interested in exploring leadership. As participants in the program students will gain valuable skills which will aid them in being the best leader he or she can be.

Why Should I Participate?

To become more active in student leadership at SFA
To develop practical leadership skills which will ease the transition from participant to leader.
To begin to form a network of other student leaders who can be used as a resource in the future.

What is expected of me?

Each session is limited to 40 participants. Once you have been confirmed as a participant you will simply be asked to attend and participate in the provided workshops.
All supplies, refreshments and technology will be provided by the Emerging Leaders program.

How do I sign up for the Emerging Leaders Program?

Students are accepted into the program on a “rolling admissions” process.
Once you have been accepted you will be assigned to one of 10 emerging leaders classes and all meeting times and materials will be emailed to you.
The emerging leaders series will be completed in two 3-hour classes.

What topics will be covered?

Managing your time and others.
Communication and Professionalism
Goal Setting
How to organize meetings
Financial planning and personal ethics
Conflict Management
Diversity
Personal Responsibility and Hazing
How to best navigate SFA to work for you!

What Dates is the Program Offered?

September 19-20, 2007
October 17-18, 2007
November 14-15, 2007
January 23-24, 2008
February 20-21, 2008
April 30 – May 1, 2008

30 Days Lecture Series
This series based on the Emmy nominated series featuring Morgan Spurlock, this series takes a look at life from someone very different from yourself. Past topics include living on minimum wage and living as a Muslim in America. Each 30 Days episode is 50 minutes long and is followed by a discussion with an invited guest.

2007 - 2008 Dates Announced!
All dates begin at 3 PM in the Student Center Multi-Media Room. For more information call 468-1018.

September 26, 2007 – Immigration
A gun-toting, border-patrolling Minuteman experiences what it is like to be an illegal immigrant when he's stripped of all forms of identification and moves in with a family of undocumented immigrants for one month. During his 30 Days experience, he will live with the family of illegal immigrants in their one-bedroom apartment, work as a handyman, attend a pro-immigration rally and travel to Mexico to visit the family's former home.
October 24, 2007 – Outsourcing
When a computer programmer's life is turned upside down after he loses his lucrative job to the outsourcing phenomenon, he decides to spend one month in Bangalore, India, the outsourcing mecca of the world, to find out what happened to his job. As part of his 30 Days experience, he will live with an Indian family who currently work in outsourced American jobs in order to witness firsthand the impact outsourcing has had on Indian culture. He will also go through the lengthy training process involved in landing a job in a call center -- a position that's respected and well-regarded in India.
November 28, 2007 – Atheist/Christian
An Atheist travels to Bible Belt territory in Texas and moves in with a fundamentalist Christian family for one month. For 30 Days, her way of thinking is challenged as she is confronted by the Christian family's circle of friends and fellow church-goers. She engages the family in lively debates, as they try to comprehend a life without religion and faith in God.
January 30, 2008 – New Age
A stressed-out workaholic with anger management issues attempts to gain inner peace and spiritual enlightenment when he commits himself to a 30-day regimen of New Age exploration. Under the guidance of a life coach, he experiences a variety of New Age therapies including yoga, acupuncture and Reiki therapy, which is a Japanese healing technique. He attends a spring equinox ritual, a tribal dancing class and a tantric intimacy workshop with his girlfriend.
February 27, 2008 – Pro-Choice/Pro Life
A pro-choice feminist who currently works as an administrative assistant and a counselor at a women's health clinic lives at a Christian, pro-life maternity home for one month. As part of her 30 Days experience, she will follow the regimented schedule of the home, work in its pregnancy crisis center, and participate in various pro-life activities supported by the maternity home.

How do I sign up?
You can call 468-2988 or email Michael Preston, Director of Student Life at mpreston@sfasu.edu. We will sign you up for your first session and at that session time. You will then receive updates on which sessions you have completed and what sessions to have left.

Last Lecture Series
What would you say if you were going to die tomorrow? Well we asked SFA faculty to do just that and they are the reason for the Last Lecture Series. This series features SFA faculty speaking on a topic that is not related to their classroom offerings but is a passion of theirs. Come out for an afternoon you will not forget. The Last Lecture Series is offered once a month. For a list of lectures and times please call 468-1018 or email mpreston@sfasu.edu.

First Friday Lecture Series

The First Friday Professional Development Series is constructed to serve the SFA campus by providing an opportunity for our staff to further their skills in student affairs work. We all have times that we need a refresher in a professional development area or even more have never been exposed to some of the concepts and practices which drive our careers.

The Office of Student Life has developed this program and was originally designed for our staff in-service training. As we developed the topics and subject matter we realized this program could be a great way to bring many of us together to form a cohort which is dedicated to professional development. Each First Friday event is designed to be a stand alone event and we realize not everyone will be interested in every topic. But we hope that many of these sessions will peak an interest for you. And by all means invite other folks from your office. Many times we middle and upper managers get the training which will actually benefit our newer professionals more.

All of the sessions will begin at 10 AM in the Multi-Media room of the Pattillo Student Center. Since we are limited to about 30 folks I do ask you have your staff who wish to attend RSVP so we can assure space. Below you will find a brief description of each session. We will provide refreshments during each session but encourage each of you to bring a lunch and join us after the session. It is our hope to finish the First Friday with some conversation over lunch, maybe on the patio!

October 5th
Basics in Student Development Theory – A refresher on the theory behind the work we do.
November 2nd
Legal Issues in Higher Education.
December 7th
Learning Reconsidered – How assessment and student learning will change the way we do things.
February 1st
Higher Education goes to Hollywood, how movies portray higher education.
March 7th
Multicultural Identity Formation Theory.
April 4th
Current Issues in Higher Education: Thoughts from the recent NASPA National conference.

Freshman Leadership Academy

SFA Freshman Leadership is the introductory phase in the SFA Leadership experience. Designed as a class as a part of the SFA 101 program, this highly competitive program selects 50 college freshmen and immerses them in leadership study and introduces them to all that SFA can offer. The goal is to develop student leaders that will continue to contribute to the leadership fabric of SFA for their entire college career.

Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK)

Omicron Delta Kappa is the SFA Leadership Honor Society. ODK recognizes the top students that excel in both the classroom and in leadership at SFA. ODK recognizes achievement in five areas; student activities and organizations, athletics, fine arts, student media and government. Each long semester, ODK receives nominations and selects only ten new members. Members must be a Junior, Senior, or Grad Student and have achieved a 3.0 GPA in all course work and has a demonstrated track record as a student leader on the SFA campus. ODK assists students to develop themselves at an elite level by offering presentation and peer review opportunities for our members.

SFA Student Leadership Awards

SFA Student Awards are awarded to students that show the drive and will to change the campus and make a difference. Awards are presented in the following areas;

Student Leader of the Year
Organization of the Year
Advisor of the Year
SFA Volunteer of the Year
Program of the Year
SFA Student Honors

SFA Presidential Volunteer Service Award

The President's Volunteer Service Award is a program sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation and the White House. The program began under the presidency of George Bush it has been growing for over 15 years and now has millions of volunteers recognized for their hard work and dedication to their community.

SFA Leadership Library and Downloads

This is your digital one stop shop for leadership development at SFA. Contained on the page is a list of books and resource materials that may be checked out to SFA students with i.d. There are also a number of professional journal articles and information for use while in the center. We also have a number of items in PDF form for you to download and browse. The topic areas include:

Time Management
Running and Effective Meeting
Roles in and Organization
Public Speaking: Mastering Basic Skills
Making Groups Productive
Making Diversity Work for your Organization
Learning Styles
Group Dynamics
Creating a Comfort Zone
Conflict Resolution
Volunteer Management

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Stephen F. Austin State University

Welcome to Student Leadership at Stephen F. Austin!