Education the focus at Leadership Institute
Todd Shelton | 2/19/2004 "I feel much more comfortable with my position as Number I and am eager and excited to get back to school and share what I have learned with my Chapter. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!"So, imagine this: your chapter elects you to the position of Number I. The previous guy in that position hands you a briefcase and gavel and then hits the road. Now you are in charge and haven’t got a clue what needs to be done and, even if you knew what, you certainly have no idea how or who to contact.
Is this how you would want the leadership of your chapter to operate? Well, all to often this is exactly how the transition of leadership in our KA chapters played out. Sure, there is NLI in August each year which provides various educational opportunities, and they are valuable. However, most of our chapters elect their officers during the fall semester, so there was an eight-month education gap for the new officer.
Alas, with the blessing of the Convention, some of the guys up in Lexington along with volunteers from across the country developed a program to give the newly elected Number I from your chapter the tools and information he needs to lead . . . the Number I’s Leadership Institute. The Institute was held January 9-11, 2004, (yeah, at the beginning of the term of office, amazing huh?) just outside of Greensboro, N. C.
While a pilot program, the Number I’s Summit, was held in 2003, this year marked the inauguration of the program for the full Order. The mission of the Leadership Institute is to effectively and efficiently educate the Order’s newly elected Number I’s on the mission, vision, and policies of Kappa Alpha Order.
The goals of the Institute are to educate and empower the Number I’s to understand their role and responsibility as the chapter’s highest elected officer, recognize the tools and support systems provided, and understand the standards and policies of operating an active chapter of Kappa Alpha Order. The main objectives reinforced throughout the entire Institute deal with explaining, examining, and defining leadership characteristics of the Number I. The Institute also focuses a great deal on the teachings of the ritual and how to use the ritual within the chapter to deal with everyday problems. The purpose of the program is to provide pro-active education to the chapter leaders, so they feel empowered to act, so they will be acting based on the values of Kappa Alpha Order, and so they will be connected to resources that they need when the job becomes difficult.
The 2004 Leadership Institute was attended by 114 Number I’s and held at the Caraway Conference Center, a conference center designed for meetings for non-profit organizations. The facility and premises were distraction free with no alcohol, no room phones, and only one television. It provided a positive, learning atmosphere for the intense two day conference. The Institute was composed of large group educational sessions followed by small group meetings facilitated by pairs of Kappa Alpha volunteers and staff members. The opportunity to attend the Institute was provided at no expense to the participants, including their travel, manuals, meals, and lodging.
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