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This past Saturday, September 16th, an impressive number of students and faculty attended the "IIT Pride and Teamwork: Student Leadership Seminar," that was held in the Herman Hall Ballroom. The IlT Student Leadership Committee arranged and held this event to take the place of the Student Leadership Retreat. The Seminar consisted of many activities pertaining to leadership development and to university procedures concerning student organizations. The event also provided students, faculty, staff, and administrators with an opportuntly to meet with each other in a casual atmosphere and to discuss issues that concern the university and the community. Mr. Bob Pritzker, President and CEO of the Marmon Group, Inc. and Chairman of the IIT Board of Trustees, gave the welcoming address, citing anecdotes of his own past experiences of leadership. He also discussed the importance of IIT Pride and the development of strong student organizations. Students were given a choice to attend two of four training cessions. Speakers at these sessions included Jorge Zepeda-Godinez, an alumnus of IIT currently working at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Mr. Zepeda-Godinez discussed the concept of empowerment and its impact on different organizations encompassing business, university, and, in our case, the student organizations of IIT. Another training session was presented by Mr. David Baker, Vice President for External Affairs for IlT, and Dr. Roya Ayman, Associate Professor in the Psychology department of IIT. Their discussion focused on the issue of "Conflict, Management and Resolution." within organizations. Mr. Baker and Dr. Ayman presented a system in which to classify these conflicts and discussed methods of resolution. This workshop called up on the attendants to analyze case studies to determine factors of conflict and consider solutions to such problems. Ms. Janet Finley, member of the Board of Directors of the Society of American Value Engineers, presented two seminars, "Time Management" and "Teamwork." |
In the former, Ms. Finley discussed the need for students to understand their individual personal management, helped students to set goals more effectively, and budget the time in order to reach them. The second seminar dealt with the importance of teamwork and pointed out common barriers to successful teamwork attempts. This session included a "hands-on" activity which required attendants to work as a team.  At the conclusion of the seminars, student faculty and administration joined for lunch in the Herman Hall Ballroom. They assigned attendants to random tables to encourage the students and faculty to converse with each other During dessert, Mr. Lewis Collens, IlT President and Chairman of the Board of Governors of IITRI, gave an address discussing leadership techniques and his own 'warrior-like' style. The final discussion of the day concerned the Finance Board Workshop, designed to help student organizations in their request for funds. Keith Kinistry led the discussion of rules and regulations governing fund allocation and answered questions from the attendants. Smaller groups then formed to deal with specific questions regarding the procedures involved. This workshop was the first and only workshop before the first Finance Board Hearing to be held on October 3. All students that request funds are required to attend a Finance Board Workshop before scheduling for a hearing.  The combined efforts of the Student Leadership Committee, the Office of Student Activities, and the Alumni Association brought forth this event. This program is one of many events promoting the IIT Pride Campaign initiated this year by the Student Leadership Committee. The host, Mr. Sandeep (Sunny) Mistry, the Chair of the Student Leadership Committee, and all of his officers should becommended for their hard work. A special thanks also goes out to all the speakers and unnamed persons who made this seminar such a success. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the agenda, or a copy of the IIT Student Organization Survival Guide, pick one up in the Student Leadership Committee office in the Student Organization Office in Hermann Hall. | |
