The Student Leadership Initiative

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1 Michael G. Foster School of Business University of Washington The Student Leadership Initiative Submission to MBA Roundtable Innovator Award Submitted by Dan Poston Assistant Dean for Master s Programs Michael G. Foster School of Business University of Washington Dempsey Hall, Room 334 UW Box Seattle, Washington dposton@uw.edu

2 Student Leadership Initiative (SLI) By linking all the elements of a student s MBA program experience, curricular and non-curricular, we create a richer, more cohesive and effective learning experience Program Overview In 2007, after an extensive survey of recruiters and after conducting interviews with many regional corporate leaders, the Michael G. Foster School of Business announced it would make leadership and strategic thinking a key focus of the school. To that end, Foster redesigned the curriculum in all the MBA programs with a larger commitment of course time and experiential learning to these two topics. Among the many innovations prompted by this effort was the school s first direct integration of extracurricular and co-curricular aspects of the MBA program with the academic curriculum. The faculty committee developing the new model determined that many non-academic activities of the school provided useful and effective learning opportunities for students. As students built a Personal Study Plan, they were encouraged to tap not only certain academic courses, but also student leadership positions and student club activities and events in order to develop and enhance particular leadership and strategic thinking skills. Performance was evaluated based on the level of participation. However, it was quickly obvious the quality of these non-academic program experiences varied greatly. The quality of the experience in student-run organizations and activities varied depending on the effort and commitment of the particular students involved. To optimize the value of student-managed events and experiences we needed to build a structure that could deliver quality activities and sustain the quality over time despite the constant turnover of the MBA student body. SLI was launched as a pilot program with the Full Time MBA Program in 2008 and with the Evening (Part Time) MBA Program in We wanted the student organizations, and students in general, to have the opportunity to help design and develop this initiative. The initial plan grew out of proven ideas shared at GMAC conferences by various schools (Stanford and USC, in particular) for effectively managing student-run activities. Melding these best practices with ideas from our Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking and MBA Program Office, we developed the initial concept for SLI. Since then, most of the innovations and enhancements to SLI have originated with Foster MBA students. The Student Leadership Initiative (SLI) permits us to formally integrate student leadership experiences and leadership development programming with our MBA student clubs, organizations and other studentrun activities. We leverage very popular and important extracurricular activities to directly enhance and inform key academic efforts acknowledging and enhancing something most of us already knew: learning occurs in all dimensions of the MBA student experience. In addition to expanding opportunities for experiential learning, this program has resolved many challenges we faced in the past simply trying to manage student activities and events. These same problems are faced by our colleagues at many other schools. The Student Leadership Initiative includes the following: 1. A complete management structure engaging a very large group of students. 2. A funding and budget structure that requires extensive planning, negotiation, and follow-through by students. 3. Development of handbooks and records to facilitate consistent quality and build institutional memory for future student leaders. 4. Incentives and rewards for those who take on leadership roles.

3 Program Structure 1. During orientation, each new student receives an extensive list of possible leadership or service roles he or she may want to pursue throughout the Foster MBA program experience as well as a program matrix that shows the many curricular and non-curricular options available to students. Students are encouraged to review and explore all the options and then choose those that best serve both individual career aspirations and areas of greatest personal interest. Students may create additional options as well. Participation is not required but is nearly universal. Second-year students tell new students that involvement is part of the Foster culture. Nearly every student pursues two or three of the leadership/service options each year some many more. 2. The MBA Association (MBAA) is now the umbrella organization for all student-run activities in each MBA program. The 20 student clubs are all sub-clubs of the MBAA. Club leaders meet frequently as a group led by the MBAA Executive VP to coordinate events and activities. The MBAA helps manage room and event scheduling, arbitrates conflicts in meeting times, provides a framework for effective club leadership, and finances club events. 3. All funds for all student events are distributed and administered through the MBAA. In addition to dues from the students to the MBAA, the MBA Program Office makes one lump sum contribution to the MBAA. These funds must be allocated 2/3 to career related events and 1/3 to social events. Also, in a recent addition to SLI, each year the MBAA develops a corporate donor solicitation plan in partnership with the Foster Advancement Office. Through this plan particular events are matched with possible specific donor companies or individuals. All external solicitations for funds are coordinated with the Advancement Office. This funding structure eliminated the problem of ad hoc student solicitation of money for events from both various units in the business school and from regional corporations. In the past, this was a frequent sore point within the school and with the school s advancement staff. Beyond these sources, no other funds for student events can be solicited. 4. Event planning and all fund allocations go through an annual planning and budget process managed by the MBAA and club leaders. This has become one of the key learning experiences from SLI. The presentation of proposals, student-to-student negotiations, and decision processes are often intense. Further, the MBAA has devised effective budget mechanisms to insure the quality and timely delivery of planned events and the option to add new unforeseen events. 5. Throughout the year each MBAA officer and each club must build an electronic notebook that includes a list of club members, a record of all club events for the current year, a record of all club speakers with contact information, information on off campus event venues or corporate visits, and new connections with relevant Foster alumni. A copy of this notebook goes to the club leaders for the subsequent year. Another copy goes to club archives in the MBA Program Office so there is a running history of the membership and activities of each club. Clubs tend to have strong years and weak years. The archives help new club leaders gain a richer picture of past performances for the club. 6. Student elections are held in the middle of winter quarter with officers serving from the beginning of spring quarter through the end of winter quarter the next academic year. Events planning and the budget run on a different cycle. The budget and the plan for student events are developed in spring quarter for the following academic year (September through June). As a result, in the first quarter of their term, new officers are executing pre-planned events while developing plans for the following academic year.

4 Leadership Development 1. All students who hold leadership positions are invited to participate in special leadership programming delivered by our Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking. (CLST) This is usually led by Center director Bruce Avolio. In the last three years, the Center offered three Leadership Labs which asked student leaders to consider various approaches to leadership in light of experiences they were having in student organizations. These labs help each student link these leadership experiences with the theory and frameworks taught in courses in leadership, strategy and management. 2. After the student elections, all MBAA and club leaders participate in an SLI orientation. This event focuses on the nuts and bolts of managing organizations and events in line with our university policies and operating procedures. Students who manage major events, especially events where alcohol is served, receive additional training. The student treasurer for each program receives extensive training in university accounting procedures. This training has largely eliminated the extensive time and effort previously required of the MBA Program Office to serve as go-between for student events and the UW administration regarding institutional procedures and regulations. 3. In the last two years, the MBAA have created a club leader development process. First year MBA students can choose to serve as first year club reps or as part of a support team for each MBAA officer. Some clubs have several 1 st year reps, some only one or two. In these roles, the reps assist with event execution and planning. The club reps definitely have a leg up on top student leadership positions when it is time for elections in winter quarter. 4. At the end of the first year, student leaders may apply for a position as a Leadership Fellow. This program is coordinated by the CLST. These fellows work with first year MBA teams on team process and team dynamics during the autumn and winter quarter. In addition to a $1,000 stipend for each of these quarters, Leadership Fellows are enrolled in a special course in leadership. The course includes training in counseling and team advising, deeper study in leadership and very popular, often prominent guest speakers drawn from top companies in our region. Incentives and Rewards Cost In addition to the prestige of some student offices, leadership positions that look good on a resume and the two $1,000 stipends, many students want access to the Leadership Labs and the special Leadership Fellows course. However, personal recognition at the annual leadership awards banquet in May (now known as the Fosters ) has become an added incentive. This elaborate party modeled on the Academy Awards has evolved into one of the two biggest Foster MBA social events of the year. (The other is the annual Challenge for Charity auction.) The ceremony includes both humorous and serious awards as well as humorous videos and clever comments from the student hosts. The MBA Program Office subsidizes this event on condition the students formally recognize and thank both people who have demonstrated significant leadership and those who have given back to the MBA program in both formal and informal ways. 1. The Leadership Fellow stipends were made possible by a generous endowment from donor Ed Fritzky, former president of Immunex. 2. Additional costs from the MBA Program budget include: (a) Some minimal support costs for the Leadership Labs delivered by CLST and the SLI orientation event.

5 (b) Currently, a $4,000 subsidy for the two Fosters events, split $2,000 to each program. (Students purchase tickets to cover the additional event costs.) (c) The direct subsidy to the MBAA (currently $12,000) is not a new cost, but a change from the previous ad hoc approach to funding a wide range of specific student events by a variety of different administrative units within the business school. (d) MBA Career Management provides around $2,500 in grants to various clubs to promote careerrelated activities. The time invested in training student leaders in university process and the staff time required to support the execution of SLI has been more than offset by the staff time saved compared to previous approaches to managing student organizations and events. Measuring Success The change in participation in student-run organizations and events has been astounding. For the Full Time MBA Program, prior to launching SLI the MBAA typically had five to seven active student officers and five to seven active clubs, most with one or two active leaders. Multiple clubs often met the same day undermining attendance at each event. There were few major events and almost none related to careers. Before the SLI nearly all the MBAA budget was spent on alcohol and food for a few social events. Student participation in clubs averaged 50-60%. Today, the Full Time MBAA has 14 active officers addressing a wide range of program operations, including student assistance with campus technology, outreach to regional professional organizations, and alumni engagement. There are now 20 active, unique clubs. Club events do not conflict. Most student-run activities are career-related. Participation in clubs is nearly 100%. Prior to launching SLI, the Evening MBA Program had only one or two students engaged in MBAA activities each year. The program did not have a separate MBAA because there were never enough people interested. This program had two to three student events per year. Evening student participation in clubs rarely reached ten people. Today, the Evening MBAA has 16 officers, several events each quarter, many students involved in clubs that operate across programs, and overall evening MBA student participation surpassed 80% the past two years. We have seen higher interest and higher academic performance in second year leadership and strategy electives. The many roles available to students through SLI provide leadership experiences to address a wide variety of personal development needs across our student population. In follow up surveys, our MBA recruiters report Foster MBA job candidates frequently and effectively offer stories and anecdotes from Foster student leadership experiences that demonstrate keen insights into inspiring, motivating and managing a group of talented people to meet objectives on budget and in a timely and professional manner.