WISE Leadership Certificate in UA News- again!

Leadership Training, One Day at a Time

The ATLAS program offers affordable leadership training for UA students, faculty and staff – and now community members as well.

 

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University CommunicationsNovember 3, 2009

The concept backing the Applied Tailored Leadership Adventure for Students program is the idea that every student, faculty and staff member – no matter their background, schedule or financial means – should have easy access to leadership training.

And for the first time the University of Arizona program, commonly known as ATLAS, has opened its registration to Pima Community College students and the broader community while at the same time introducing new offerings.

In addition to its weekly offerings, ATLAS, which has been run out of the UA's Center for Student Involvement and Leadership for three years, is gearing up for its Leadership Day, an intensive program to be held on campus Nov. 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Mike Hiller, a UA senior studying communication and one of the ATLAS trainers, said the program's offerings are particularly important given the continued local and global need for strong leaders.

"Especially with the last election, much of it was about how the American ideals are in needing to become involved and working as a team," Hiller said.

"The students who come to us want to get involved and they want to find reasons for their own involvement," he said. "I think what ATLAS does gives them some form of guidance in their experiences."

Hiller, who facilitates the service and wellness workshops, said he works weekly with a graduate student and with a few sophomores and juniors who are working full-time while enrolled at the UA. He also is working with fraternity members.

"I think the program brings out the confidence in a lot of people in whatever they do – whether it is in school, at work, with friends or family," Hiller said, adding that he decided to become a facilitator after going completing an ATLAS certificate. "It's a nice confidence-builder, more than a resume builder."

But ATLAS certainly supports resume-building.

The program, in its current incarnation, was born out of a program that was less formal with less structure, said Thomas Murray, CSIL's coordinator of leadership programs.

ATLAS offers three levels of certification: the first level requires attendance to five workshops and requires a reflection paper; the second requires additional participation, including a hands-on activity and the production of a leadership portfolio, among other requirements.

The third are the thematic areas: disability leadership, leadership and wellness, leadership skills and applications, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trangender and questioning) and ally leadership, principles of leadership, organizational leadership, service leadership and social justice leadership.

The self-directed track is the most recent to be added to the ATLAS repertoire and allows individuals to move through the program at their own pace. Individuals also have the option to choose the workshops, events and assignments that they deem most important to their personal development.

"It was more of a personal development come-as-you-like-it workshop," said Murray, who helps facilitated the ATLAS training sessions.

But having been restructured, ATLAS programs are offered on a more structured and consistent basis – but without time constraints. For instance, a person can complete an ATLAS certificate in as little as one day, or take multiple semesters.

Each of the certificates focus on about 70 different measures in nearly one dozen categories that Murray defined alongside Corey Seemiller, program director for leadership programs.

Centered on improving individual knowledge, abilities and skills, they address self-development, healthy lifestyles, communication, critical thinking, working with others, social justice, personal vision and goals, among other things.

The only cost: $10 upon completion of each selected track.

Students also may have their ATLAS certificates placed on their Leadership & Involvement Transcript, a co-curricular transcript attached to the UA's official transcript.

Monique Nettleford-Bruce, a student intern with African American Student Affairs, said she and her team opted to pursue ATLAS training earlier in the semester and since begun offering workshops at the center.

"We want to foster leadership in a way that allows us to take those steps to be more open-minded," said Nettleford-Bruce, a UA sophomore studying political science.

The center's interns have offered workshops related to identity, diversity, ethics and integrity to those who frequent the center, including involved in the 360 Scholars Program, a retention program geared toward UA African American students.

"For a lot of students, this is a good way to get them thinking outside of the box and getting more comfortable with different students and different issues," Nettleford-Bruce said. "This is important, especially in a college setting."

Using the train-the-trainer method has helped ATLAS improve both its participation and its reach.

In addition to African American Student Affairs this year, the program has also worked with the Women in Science and Engineering program, the Center for Integrated Access Networks in the College of Optical Sciences, the Disability Resource Center, the department of Mexican American and Raza studies and others.

"It's definitely growing our participation," Murray said, noting that over a one-year period, ATLAS has been able to double its participation.

"It's definitely something that's picking up speed as we build these collaborations," he said. "It is good to have these options and to be able to make things relevant for these groups and their students."