Student services and leadership development in a university setting

Abstract

Throughout my course work in educational leadership, I became interested in leadership and its impact on the organization. Specifically, it became apparent that leadership style was important to the running of this (and any other) institution. -- Observing various leadership styles caused me to ask what style of leadership is suited to student service providers and what style should we be developing in our students? My research on the topic of transformational leadership spoke directly to this question. -- The literature clearly identifies transformational leadership as a good framework from which to develop leadership. The first important step in this process is understanding our role within the university setting. This will be the focus of paper number one. A historical review will examine the changing relationship of the student service provider with students and within the university. -- Understanding the theoretical underpinnings of organizational theory as it has evolved throughout this century is an important step to examining the evolution of leadership theory. Paper number two will provide this framework.