About SLI

Overview

History

The Leadership Program was initiated by a volunteer group of staff, faculty, and students. This grassroots committee started with a Student Leadership Conference in 2000 and continued to develop student leadership programming for the next three years. Thanks to funding from the Chancellor's Office and strategic planning on the part of the volunteer group, the Leadership Program became a full-time university program in 2003. In 2009 the name changed to Leadership, Involvement, Volunteer Experience or LIVE, to better encompass the range of programs provided. In 2017 the LIVE program developed into Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI) so that the program's title and mission are in line with the cultivation of effective leadership opportunities for students at UAF.

Mission, values and vision

Program mission

The mission of the UAF SLI program is to cultivate effective leaders for Alaska by creating and supporting a rich variety of student leadership development opportunities, partnering with academic departments and the community, and recognizing successful student leadership.

Program values

The UAF SLI program promotes leadership, student involvement and volunteer experience as integral components of each student;s University experience and education. We facilitate leadership, learning and community service across the curriculum to enhance development. We promote socially responsible leadership and citizenship within individuals, groups, and systems for the advancement of a socially responsible community. We believe each individual has the capacity to develop and practice leadership in multiple contexts. We facilitate leadership development opportunities in and out of the classroom for life-long learning.

Program vision

We provide tools, training, and support to UAF students, to assist them in becoming agents of positive change in their communities. Through leadership, volunteer experience and student involvement opportunities, the SLI program at UAF seeks to develop leadership in individuals, groups, and communities in order to foster a lifelong commitment to socially responsible leadership. Utilizing co-curricular and curricular settings, we promote student leadership identity development and encourage students to conceptualize their understanding of leadership beyond the traditional leadership model. We are a resource and clearinghouse for campus and community collaboration.

Guiding principles

  • Each individual has the capacity to develop and practice leadership within multiple contexts. Each individual can learn to contribute to positive social change by engaging in local and global communities.
  • We use strengths based approach to our practice, assisting students in finding, assessing and developing their strengths.
  • We use the Social Change model of Leadership Development and additional leadership frameworks to inform our practice.
  • We believe and promote that leadership is demonstrated in local, national and global communities of practice.
  • In our work, we embrace the values of diversity in content and process and prepare students to be effective global change agents.
  • We support and collaborate with campus partners.
  • We support and collaborate with a variety of partners from the local, regional and statewide community.
  • We contribute to and learn from national and international leadership educators by collecting and disseminating leadership knowledge.