The Summit Park Leadership Community engages students in an experimental living-learning environment focusing on the principles of leadership through community service. The experience is designed for students to learn how important leadership is and how to foster positive change in the community.

Benefiting both parties

Changes will be launched during the 2019-20 academic year. Students will turn their focus during the first semester of the year toward learning valuable leadership skills and strengthening the potential partnership with an organization in the community.

“Students have to live together and work on a project for a full year, which is a big commitment,” explained Ellen Herbig of Drury’s Community Outreach and Leadership Development Office.

Although living in Summit Park is a big commitment for students, the changes have been made to ease the workload of students and benefit community partners. One of the biggest changes for students is the shift in the classes associated with living in Summit.

Adapting to student needs

The classes, PDEV 271/272 have been changed from the current once a month to weekly. During the fall semester, the focus of the class will be on designing a project to meet the need of a community partner.

“The fall is planning, and the idea is that the Community Outreach and Leadership Development office and whomever the instructor is, can provide a lot more support in making sure the project is doable and beneficial to the community partner,” said Herbig.

Many of the changes are centered around benefiting both students and community partners. Students now apply as an individual in hopes of relieving the stress of finding a group of four in such a short window of time.

“Last year, to be a part of Summit Park, students had to apply as a group of four and the application and interview process students pitched their project idea,” explained Herbig. “So that meant between students had to have contacted a community partner, figured out a project and found a staff or faculty partner on campus to be able to support you for the next year all in about three weeks.”

The fall semester is designed to benefit students going into the spring semester working with their chosen community partner.

“This will be easier on students and will model some best practices for engaging with the community we live in. And those best practices are asking the community partner what they need before assuming that our ideas are going to be perfect for them,” explained Herbig.

For students who are applying to live in Summit Park, the changes have been made in order to promote a better living experience for students, as well as giving those students skills that they can take beyond Drury.

Article written by Elaine Choate.