Freshman Raelee Bowles first heard about the Emerging Leaders program at a Dean’s scholars meeting.

The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is one of three new student leadership programs started by Student Involvement at Wichita State. The program focuses on pairing freshmen or transfer sophomore students with upperclassmen mentors with the same major.

“Nick (Messing) actually came to talk,” Bowles said. “And at the time I needed to join a club and I’m interested in leadership activities anyways so I figured this would be a good option for me.”

Messing is the coordinator of Leadership and Service Learning for Student Involvement.

“Leadership programs are a new initiative that has been taken up since the creation of Student Involvement in July,” Messing said. “The purpose of creating the Emerging Leaders Program is to reach out to new students and help get them get plugged in at WSU and to develop future student leaders.”

For Bowles, the ELP represents an opportunity to forge connections that might otherwise take a year or two to develop.

“I’m hoping that this group can help me explore my possibilities on everything that has to do with leadership,” Bowles said.

Messing said “participants will attend six required sessions and then choose five optional sessions, allowing them to focus in on certain areas in which they’d like to grow as a leader.”

“Having an upperclassman mentor is a great way to get connected with both the academic sides and with involvement outside of the classroom,” he said.

Admittance to ELP requires filling out an application for one of the 30 spots for the spring 2013 program. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 31. Participants and applicants must attend a welcome/informational meeting on Nov. 23. At the meeting, Messing said that participants “will have a chance to meet their mentors and receive more detailed information regarding the program.”

ELP is also recruiting upperclassmen mentors. Applications are due on Oct. 31 and hopeful mentors must have at least a 2.5 GPA and be enrolled for 12 credit hours next term.

“It is the intention that completion of the Emerging Leaders Program will prepare them for future leadership experiences at WSU and beyond,” Messing said.

While the ELP presents an excellent opportunity for student growth as a new WSU student or upperclassmen mentor, it does require a greater commitment of time than many students have available.

“One way the Emerging Leaders Program differs from the other leadership programs is that it’s a semester-long commitment,” Messing said. “The goal of this program is to get students on the fast track to student leadership, campus, and community involvement.”

For students with tighter schedules like sophomore Ashlee Weeks, a computer science major, the Leadership To-Go series fits into her hectic life better.

“The Leadership To-Go Series are 30-minute sessions held on the third Thursday of each month in the wRECk Center and students can just show up to these sessions,” she said. 

“I enjoy the activities that are planned each and every time,” Weeks said. “If another student was interested I would definitely tell them that it is a great, and even quick, way to learn about yourself, others and how you are as a leader—since every program is about leadership in different ways each time.”

Messing said that students do not have to RSVP ahead of time or commit to attending more than one to be a part of the Leadership To-Go sessions. 

The third option is a Leadership Discovery Summit consisting of a half-day leadership workshop open to any student who wants to expand their leadership skills and abilities.

“This is a great way to get plugged in at WSU,” Messing said. “The leadership skills learned in these programs are applicable in all areas of life, both right now and beyond their time at WSU.”

For inquires about any of the leadership programs contact Nick Messing at [email protected].