The Leadership and Service Center on the second floor of Russell House isn’t just getting a makeover — it’s getting a whole new mentality.
The old Leadership and Service Center, previously called the Campus Life Center, housed several campus entities like Student Government, leadership programs and community service programs.
Before, everything was separated, but after the remodeling, the lay of the land will be different.
“There was some overlap but very little collaboration across those areas, and a lot of it had to do with the space,” Kelly Wuest, the director of the Leadership and Service Center, said. “With the new space, that’s all going to change.”
During the construction, these offices are being housed in the Blatt Physical Education Center. While in this space, organizations have focused on getting ready for their new, integrating space and discovering where interactions in the programs can occur and creating a bigger picture of involvement for students.
Different offices the Leadership and Service Center have already started expanding and improving their pre-existing programs.
The Emerging Leaders Program has expanded to include organization leaders and upperclassmen, rather than just freshmen. The Skill Builder Leadership Workshop Series has also grown and will combine efforts to offer more diverse leadership tools.
Employees of the Leadership and Service Center are also receiving a position and title change — they will all become “leadership coaches,” though they will each have different specializations. Wuest hopes that the staff will be able to assist students one-on-one that will "spark [some] really cool things.
“I really think that it’s going to allow students to have one place to go. We are by no means the experts on leadership," Wuest said. "But we hope we become the place where students say ‘I want to get involved and this is the place I can go to do that.'"
The space was designed to encourage innovation, and it's equipped with the technology to match.
And by the time the new Leadership and Service Center opens in spring 2015, Wuest said, student life will have a clearer mission and a clearer vision.
"We don't claim to be everything for everyone, but we hope to either we enough or refer them to other places," she said.