Leadership Training

Involvement in campus activities, regardless of type, is a great way to enhance existing skills and develop new ones. Student Affairs staff members, along with other University colleagues, offer both group and individual advising on issues of leadership for any interested students.

Leadership Weekend: Each semester the office coordinates a retreat for a group of undergraduate student leaders. For 2019 – 2020 the dates are October 18-20 and February 7-9.
PENNacle: A pre-orientation program for incoming freshmen, PENNacle brings together upperclass leaders and new students to explore options for campus involvement and develop mentoring relationships.
Customized Training: Many organizations hold retreats and short workshops during the year for team building and planning. OSA staff members can assist with program advice and occasional facilitation on request.
Individual Advising: Have an organizational conflict? Not sure how to accomplish your group’s goals? Need help managing your budget? OSA staff members are happy to help — just ask.

Leadership Training Weekend

Letter from Katie Bonner, Executive Director, Office of Student Affairs

On behalf of University Life at Penn, I invite students interested in leadership issues to join us on the semi-annual Leadership Training retreat. The fall retreat will be held Friday, February 7 – Sunday, February 9. This retreat is open to freshman, sophomores, and juniors.

Topics covered on the retreat, which is called “The Responsibilities of Leadership,” will include:

group dynamics
the uses and abuses of power
leadership in a multicultural society
networking
leadership styles and skills.

We will approach these issues through the use of games, other structured experiences, lecture and discussion. While we spend most of the time on issues relating to your own experience and organizations, this is not a “nuts and bolts” training. For example, we focus more on how to understand group interaction than on how to run a meeting. The group will also work together to consider how diverse individuals can collaborate to form a community that values and respects all members.

The bus will leave for YMCA of the Pines in Medford, NJ at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and return to campus around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. All meals and supplies will be provided. There is no cost to you for the weekend except the commitment of your time — all participants are required to attend the entire weekend.

Officers are especially welcome but we are confident that the program will benefit all student leaders as well as the groups they represent. Because the training works best in a small group, we may not be able to accommodate all those who are interested in attending. Participation is open only to those who have not attended previous retreats. We try to arrange for a group which is as diverse as possible and represents as wide a range of student organizations as possible and therefore may need to limit the number of students representing each organization. We will keep a waiting list for this and subsequent weekends.

Anyone interested in attending the retreat should complete an application.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call our stop by the Office of Student Affairs, 200 Houston Hall.

Katie Bonner
Executive Director, Office of Student Affairs