By: Caitlyn Bailey | Editor-in-Chief
On April 7th, the Office of Student Engagement and the Student Government Association hosted the Spring Student Leadership Summit in O’Hare for attendees to engage in leadership development. The three-hour event involved a workshop, a student involvement panel, and a presentation regarding updates to the campus platform Seahawk Connection.
The presentation portion was led by Dyanna Moreira, the director of the Office of Student Engagement. She announced that Seahawk Connection will be getting a major update that aimts to be much more user friendly than its current form. Finances, event organization and selling tickets will be easier than ever for both students and faculty. The Student Government Association and the Office of Student Engagement are currently designing the structure and tools that will best serve student organizations. The program is set to launch in September 2024.
The summit’s panel included two staff members from Salve Regina and one from the University of Rhode Island. Shania Fenton, the assistant director of programming within the Office of Student Engagement spoke about the importance of advocating for oneself. Lauren Neary, a medical administrative assistant, talked about her own leadership struggles. Coming from the University of Rhode Island, Lucas Dewitt is the coordinator of organization advising and systems management who spoke about his involvement in his undergraduate studies. Panelists and the vice president of the Student Government Association, Ashley Caputo, also spoke about the importance of club recruitment and retention.
The next part of the summit included a workshop where students were divided into groups. They were tasked with putting together an event with a specific goal and budget that they believed would garner the most student interest. The goals varied by group, featuring categories such as networking, marketing and social connection.
“[The Leadership Summit] was an amazing opportunity for clubs on campus,” said Vice President Ashley Caputo. “I am thrilled to be a part of such an important summit, and I can’t wait to see it grow even further.”
Vice President Ashley Caputo would like to extend her gratitude to Dyanna Moreira and the Student Government Association executive board for helping prepare and facilitate the event.
