Advance Leadership Program

This semester several of our fellow ambassadors have been accepted into the Advance Leadership Program here at UMSL. The advance leadership program is designed for Junior, Senior, and Graduate Students, and is designed to fine tune leadership skills through workshops, seminars, and site visits to businesses throughout St. Louis.

All participants are required to have a resume review, and meetings throughout the semester to touch base with their assigned leadership advisor. After each learning session the students are required to submit reflections on the topic discussed, and what improvements they could make on their own leadership. All the participants are required to attend at least 9 out of the 11 sessions which are usually held on Fridays throughout the semester.

At the end of the semester each participant is required to present in front of their fellow Advance Student leaders, Leadership, Advisors, and family a portfolio presentation on their personal leadership, and the ways the leadership program has assisted them in the improvement of their own leadership skills.

Four of the focuses in the program include... 

Modeling the Way:

• Inspiring a Shared Vision
• Challenging the Process
• Enabling Others to Act
• Encouraging the Heart

Some of the benefits from the program:

• Enhanced leadership skill development and training
• Opportunity to network with top level management in the St. Louis area
• Ability to articulate your extracurricular experiences to future employers
• Collaboration with other engaged student leaders
• Advanced Leaders graduates are honored at the Student Leadership Awards

This program is great opportunity for all students, but as a student ambassador it was wonderful to see several of my fellow ambassadors there also striving to be better leaders, and setting a great example.

Monthly Meetings: October Edition

At the UMSL Ambassador monthly meetings, Ambassadors discuss important topics that are relevant to our future professional careers. One of our favorite meetings we have held thus far was our October meeting focusing on interviewing. It was a very exciting and informative workshop. 

The three topics we worked on were: proper interview/work attire, interview questions, and writing thank you cards to interviewers. Each topic was attached to an activity station lead by the Lead or Lead in Training Ambassadors.

From the attire discussion, we learned that there is such diversity in the work force that sometimes you don’t realize how many options you have to choose from. We learned that bright colors are fun and acceptable in the office and jeans should never be worn unless given specific approval have been given. 

The session on interview questions was very helpful because the questions forced us to think of creative, but genuine answers that would engage future employers. We were also able to review one another’s answers and help guide their answer to something appropriate yet honest to their own experiences.

The most intriguing of sessions was the thank you card station. We learned, one: how to write strong letters, and two: the fact that they make interviewees stand out, since they are more uncommon nowadays.

Monthly Meetings are very exciting and beneficial, and we cannot wait to attend the next one!

Fellow Ambassador Becomes a Founding Father on campus

This semester The University of Missouri–St. Louis has welcomed the new fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi onto campus. This addition to Greek Life excited new Student Ambassador, Braxton Perry. Over the summer he received an invitation to join which stated that the fraternity was in search of the best men on campus. After research and deliberation with his family, he decided to join Alpha Sigma Phi and obtained the distinct title of Founding Father; an honor that only 0.003% of all fraternity men can obtain. Last week the Alpha Sigma Phi held executive board elections and found Braxton qualified to be the first president of this chapters fraternity. Braxton states "I am excited to have the opportunity to lead a great group of gentlemen and even more ecstatic to help with the development of bettering the world through better men.” Moving forward, Alpha Sigma Phi is on track to earn their charter by the beginning of Fall 2017 and is excited to soon be recognized as an official University of Missouri–St. Louis fraternity.

Founders Dinner

UMSL’s core values represent the deepest beliefs and highest aspirations of our school and our mission. Every day students strive to ensure that these values inspire our actions and influence all of our decisions. September 22nd was the annual Founders Dinner,  which is a night to celebrate and honor the members of the UMSL community: Faculty, Staff, Alumni, and Donors. This is a recognition of their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the values UMSL aims to uphold. This UMSL community serves as the guide, consistently empowering students to stay true to ourselves through changing times as they work on keeping students in school and on track towards graduation. This evening was a wonderful opportunity for us, the UMSL Ambassadors, to show our appreciation by assisting the UMSL community throughout the night of the Founders Dinner. The Ambassadors were able to uphold UMSL’s core values and keep a smile on the faces of all the guests by fulfilling our role with great spirit!