Future leaders go for GOLD

“A leader for all seasons” is not a testimonial, but the name of a workshop offered by SUNY Geneseo’s Organizations for Leadership Development (GOLD).

Sponsored by the school’s Center for Community, the Division of Student and Campus Life and the Student Association, GOLD was started in response to the desires of SUNY Geneseo’s student body. “Students were looking for more on-campus programs that dealt with life after college, and would give them an edge in the workforce,” said UUPer and GOLD Director Thomas Matthews. As a result, a largely volunteer staff of faculty, professionals and exceptional students came together in the fall of 2000, not only to develop such workshops, but also to identify incentives to help students achieve.

“Organizing the program meant engaging others to work together and finding the right people to teach the right courses,” Matthews said. “I visited other campus leadership programs, attended symposiums on leadership and heeded the national standard for advancement in leadership education. Ultimately, I did a lot of listening."

Matthews’ legwork paid off. Since its inception, GOLD has grown from an on-campus program of 384 participants to more than 2,300 and serves as a model for other University campuses, schools outside the SUNY system and community organizations. Last year, one GOLD instructor was asked to do a program for the Livingston County Chamber of Commerce. This year, the program was named one of two “Exemplary Practices and Model Programs” by the National Association of Campus Activities.

Based on the number of workshops students participate in, they can obtain gold, silver or bronze leadership certificates. The entire experience culminates in each student’s development and presentation of a Personal Leadership Model articulating her or his understanding of leadership. Each is also individually recognized at Geneseo’s annual leadership awards ceremony.

Today, the GOLD program -- now in its fourth semester -- offers more than 40 one-hour workshops each academic year. The topics range from “The Theories of Power and Influence” to “So you wanna change the world?” to the newly added, cultural-diversity-centered, “Human genome project” a part of a competency series for leaders. GOLD is open to any student and can be completed in any order. Geneseo’s GOLD standards help and inspire today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders. To learn more about the Geneseo Organization for Leadership Development, visit GOLD’s Web site at http://www.gold.geneseo.edu.

-- Thea Brewster