Starting in fall 2024, the Illinois Leadership Center’s (ILC) i-Programs will now go by a new name: Leadership Labs. A multi-hour, interactive experience, Leadership Labs are offered to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students throughout the academic year in online, in-person and hybrid session formats as an opportunity to focus on a particular aspect of their leadership practice.
Each of the five Leadership Lab program session types have also been renamed. Moving away from the previous naming convention of one-word names starting with the letter “I” (e.g., Insight, Ignite, Inclusion, Integrity and Innovation), these rebranded sessions have been updated to reflect the larger thematic learning outcomes for students (e.g., “Strengths-Based Leadership,” “Initiating Change In Your Life,” “Inclusive Leadership,” “Leading with Integrity,” and “Creative Problem Solving In Groups and Teams”).
While the naming conventions have changed, the high-quality impact of these ILC programs remains the same. From 2022 to 2024, 22,161 students participated in this experiential learning opportunity with the ILC. During the 2023-24 academic year, 787 students attended 11 sessions hosted by the ILC. Six of these programs were hosted in a “blended” format, with online pre-work followed by an in-person session led by Illinois faculty and staff. Two programs were hosted online, and three programs were hosted entirely in-person.
"Debuted in 1999, i-Programs have been a cornerstone of the Illinois Leadership Center for the past 25 years,” said Dr. Gayle Spencer, Senior Director of the Illinois Leadership Center. “These programs are crucial in supporting students' development of competencies necessary for effective leadership, while empowering and motivating Illinois students to contribute to society. By investing in our students' leadership development today, we are building a foundation for a brighter, better tomorrow."
These development experiences are central to the ILC’s mission to provide comprehensive leadership education and training to all Illinois students through assessment, learning and experiential opportunities. The learning outcomes for students—regardless of program modality, college affiliation, or class year—are evident.
An undergraduate student from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences participated in the online session for the Integrity. They noted that the program offered space for reflection to “learn a lot of new things about [themselves]” and “ways to improve [their] skills.” Another undergraduate student from the College of Applied Health Sciences reflected that through participating in a blended version of the Inclusion program, they “learned a lot about how to be a better person and a better leader.”
Over the last twenty years, the Center has been a campus resource hub that is guided by the core values of student learning; diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; purpose; integrity; innovation and continuous improvement. Through programs and services, like Leadership Labs, Illinois students can continue to directly apply skills to their daily life both inside and outside of the classroom.
“The big takeaway for me was that you must use introspection,” said a sophomore student from the Division of General Studies who participated in an online version of the Integrity i-Program. “You must be able to look within yourself and be honest about what your beliefs are, and how your actions can be used to demonstrate those beliefs.”
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All ILC programs and services are free for Illinois students. Your financial support can help more students experience world class leadership education. If you want to learn more about contributing, visit leadership.illinois.edu/give.