Student Leadership Consultants seek to recruit new members

By SHERRY SIMKOVIC For The News-Letter

Student Leadership Consultants (SLC), a group of juniors and seniors that assists student organizations on campus, is working to fill its ranks for next year. The Student Leadership and Involvement office, a division of the Office of Student Life that works with SLC, will be selecting 24 sophomore and junior students to join the SLC.

In collaboration with the Student Leadership and Involvement office, SLC leads workshops for student organizations, facilitates emerging leadership programs and plans campus-wide conferences each semester.

“[It] provides services for student groups such as campus space reservations, managing on-campus financial accounts and mail and package reception,” reads a statement on the website of the office of Student Leadership and Involvement. Lizzie Kim, a member of SLC, explained the SLC’s relationship with the Student Leadership and Involvement office.

“SLC works directly with the Student Leadership and Involvement office to essentially help improve student life at JHU,” Kim said.

The office’s mission statement outlines the ways in which it assists the student body.

“Student Leadership and Involvement enhances the student experience outside of the classroom through supporting student clubs and organizations, creating and promoting involvement opportunities for all students and encouraging leadership development through practical experience,” it states.

According to Kim, SLC is divided into four teams: the experiences team, the seminars and workshops team, the conferences team and the consulting team.

“I am part of the consulting team. My team and I went through various trainings on leadership and have held many discussions on strategies for working in diverse teams and dealing with issues facing Hopkins leaders and groups,” Kim said. “From this we gained the skills that we need to advise and guide students in making their student organization more efficient and impactful.”

Additionally student groups may apply for various campus grant programs to support organization activities through the Student Leadership and Involvement office. The staff are available to advise student groups when they hold on-campus programs and events. The website provides online tips for arranging events with articles such as “8 Steps to A Successful Event.”

According to Kim, SLC members also work closely with administrative staff outside of the office of Student Leadership and Involvement, including Associate Dean of Student Engagement Tiffany Sanchez.

“One thing that really resonated with me was when Dean Sanchez came to speak to us about student experience and how when she asked alumni what their experience of student life was like at Hopkins, many responded saying that they ‘survived,’” said Kim. “As a student leadership consultant, my own personal goal this year is to change this outlook on student life to something that we really value and reflect back on with a more positive outlook.”

Student Leadership and Involvement is the group that writes the “Today’s Announcements” emails that Hopkins students receive each day.

To be eligible to join SLC, applicants must be present on the Homewood Campus for the entirety of the 2016-2017 school year and must be available for training on various dates in early 2016.

Applicants must be available for three hours per week to hold office hours for consultation walk-ins for student leaders and to assist the professional staff of Student Leadership and Involvement.

According to the Facebook event, strong SLC candidates should possess qualities such as the “desire to work in a highly collaborative, developmental environment [and be curious] about leadership theory, group dynamics, and/or social advocacy.”

Upon completing their training, SLCs will be paid hourly when they hold office hours, lead workshops or assist with leadership conferences. SLC members for the 2016-2017 school year can expect to earn between $400 and $500 per semester.