HDF 190: FLITE (FIRST-YEAR LEADERS INSPIRED TO EXCELLENCE)

URI MINOR IN LEADERSHIP STUDIES, CENTER FOR STUDENT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

CORE REQUIREMENT FOR THE LEADERSHIP MINOR
SPRING 2016

SERVICE LEARNING & LEADERSHIP CONTRACT

Goal: To identify and utilize my top five VIA values of leadership, fairness, social
intelligence, love of learning, and perspective in an organizational/interpersonal setting
that aligns with the mission, vision, values and sponsored programs and activities of
URIs Center for Student Leadership Development. In order to accomplish my goal, I
trained to become a Leadership Ambassador and attended Welcome Day.
Activity: After attending the training session to become a Leadership Ambassador, I went
to two days of Welcome Day to speak with and inform incoming URI students about
Leadership Institute and the leadership program/minor.
Evidence: Although I wasnt able to bring a pin home from the sessions, I am using the
Thank-You email sent out by Robert Vincent on behalf of all of the Ambassadors who
participated in the Welcome Days as my evidence.
Annotation: To begin accomplishing my learning contract, I attended a training session
in the Memorial Union to become a Leadership Ambassador. The session was run by peer
leaders Edith and Ben, as well as Robert Vincent. During training, we learned what it
meant and the significance of being a Leadership Ambassador, as well as how to talk to
incoming students about the minor. We learned key talking points, facts, and answers to
frequently asked questions, in order to make the conversation flow better. During the
session, we discussed how to incorporate our own experiences at Leadership Institute as
well; a great way to show parents and students how valuable the program was to our
academic success and our social success as we acclimated to campus life.
After training we were asked to sign up for Welcome Days. I attended two days,
but both were unfortunately cut short for me due to job training. I arrived around 9am, the
booths were already set up and all we had to do before the incoming students rolled in
was display brochures and practice our prepared answers to frequently asked questions.
As the students started to pour in, more parents were interested in the program at first.
Soon, when more students were there around mid-day, we got a lot of students making
their own way to the booth to ask questions. A lot of students (and parents alike) had
never heard if leadership studies being offered as a college program! It was rewarding to
explain to the families the minor and what we do. I was able to answer almost every
question asked, refer them to other people within the minor for more details, and
encourage them to sign-up on the email list to get a heads-start with the program and
minor. One student who had heard of the program ended up talking with me for almost 25
minutes! I was very pleased with myself and my interest to keep an informative and
friendly conversation going so long about leadership and the Institute. I felt as though I

made an impact on the incoming freshmen who wanted to learn about leadership and how
to incorporate it into their time on campus.
I applied my values of perspective, leadership, and social intelligence the most
during this activity. Perspective allowed me to address the challenges an incoming
freshman faces and speak to the insecurities of starting college. Letting the students know
how recently I was in their shoes made them more comfortable. My value of leadership
allowed me to take initiative and approach families who seemed to have interest in the
minor and the program. My social intelligence also played a role in this; I was able to
accurately pick out the people who showed interest based off their body language and
tone of voice. I felt compelled to greet families and students and ask them about their
interest in the program. At the end of the project, I am happy knowing I left an impact on
students, as well as how I grew by being able to express my passions to others.

Instructor Signature: ____________________________________________

*Will sign once they have reviewed your draft idea due 2/16/16.
Student Signature: ______________________________________________