Constructive Dialogue Initiative helps living-learning community create stronger leaders
The Scholar Leader Community is Miami’s oldest living-learning community
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Published
Miami University students participate in a past Constructive Dialogue Initiative session. The Scholar Leader Community, Miami’s oldest living-learning community, will draw on the Constructive Dialogue Initiative as part of its annual spring retreat.
Constructive Dialogue Initiative helps living-learning community create stronger leaders
•
Published
From navigating challenging conversations to gaining confidence in communication, Miami University’s Constructive Dialogue Initiative is a way to help students engage their peers across a variety of differences.
Those skills are crucial in building an inclusive environment. They are also essential in developing student leaders on campus. The Scholar Leader Community, Miami’s oldest living-learning community, will draw on the Constructive Dialogue Initiative as part of its annual spring retreat, held this year Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at Benton Hall.
With about 80 upperclass students, the Scholar Leader Community is a residential living-learning community dedicated to enhancing leadership and scholarship among its members and the broader university community.
“We are hopeful they can gain some further perspective on navigating differences respectfully and how you continue to work with people you may disagree with,” said Noah Montague, a resident director in the Office of Residence Life who oversees Bishop, Stoddard, and Elliott Halls. “Leadership is about creating positive change. Our students are going to go off and do a million different things. Navigating spaces where people will disagree is completely crucial to developing leaders."
Providing students with the tools needed to navigate those spaces was one of the reasons Montague sought to partner with the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence (OTIE) to integrate the Constructive Dialogue Initiative into the retreat’s curriculum.
Hiram Ramirez, assistant vice president for inclusive excellence and strategic initiatives, said this is part of a shared vision between OTIE and the Scholar Leader Community.
“The Scholar Leader Community has a very strong legacy of developing student leaders on campus,” Ramirez said. “Students will be able to gain stronger communication skills and will be able to leverage that in their leadership roles at Miami and beyond.”
One overarching goal for Constructive Dialogue is for every Miami student to eventually have a baseline knowledge of the Initiative. More than 100 students participated in last year’s pilot program, which helped prepare students to engage in productive discussions with people from different backgrounds. Over 1,500 students participated this past fall semester.
“Leaders can support one another in these situations if they have that common language,” Ramirez said. “This can be a unique experience for them. I think a lot of people on campus are looking for that special thing for their program, and Constructive Dialogue is something that can be layered on any curriculum.”
As part of the retreat, there will also be activities based on the social change model of leadership, which views leadership nonhierarchically.
Constructive Dialogue also fits within that model, Montague said.
“This is the same kind of concept, with different terminology, which is how this connection with OTIE began,” Montague said. “We are doing very similar things. We wanted to know how we could work together more efficiently, and that is where this idea came from.”
Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence, was thrilled for OTIE to partner with the Scholar Leader Community to bring Constructive Dialogue resources to this group of student leaders.
“This partnership between OTIE and Scholar Leaders is a great model for how students can benefit from these skills, and how at Miami we develop offerings to support and meet the needs of different populations,” Alcalde said.
“We are excited to see how Scholar Leaders use these skills during their time at Miami, and beyond.”
Those skills are crucial in building an inclusive environment. They are also essential in developing student leaders on campus. The Scholar Leader Community, Miami’s oldest living-learning community, will draw on the Constructive Dialogue Initiative as part of its annual spring retreat, held this year Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at Benton Hall.
With about 80 upperclass students, the Scholar Leader Community is a residential living-learning community dedicated to enhancing leadership and scholarship among its members and the broader university community.
“We are hopeful they can gain some further perspective on navigating differences respectfully and how you continue to work with people you may disagree with,” said Noah Montague, a resident director in the Office of Residence Life who oversees Bishop, Stoddard, and Elliott Halls. “Leadership is about creating positive change. Our students are going to go off and do a million different things. Navigating spaces where people will disagree is completely crucial to developing leaders."
Providing students with the tools needed to navigate those spaces was one of the reasons Montague sought to partner with the Office of Transformational and Inclusive Excellence (OTIE) to integrate the Constructive Dialogue Initiative into the retreat’s curriculum.
Hiram Ramirez, assistant vice president for inclusive excellence and strategic initiatives, said this is part of a shared vision between OTIE and the Scholar Leader Community.
“The Scholar Leader Community has a very strong legacy of developing student leaders on campus,” Ramirez said. “Students will be able to gain stronger communication skills and will be able to leverage that in their leadership roles at Miami and beyond.”
One overarching goal for Constructive Dialogue is for every Miami student to eventually have a baseline knowledge of the Initiative. More than 100 students participated in last year’s pilot program, which helped prepare students to engage in productive discussions with people from different backgrounds. Over 1,500 students participated this past fall semester.
“Leaders can support one another in these situations if they have that common language,” Ramirez said. “This can be a unique experience for them. I think a lot of people on campus are looking for that special thing for their program, and Constructive Dialogue is something that can be layered on any curriculum.”
As part of the retreat, there will also be activities based on the social change model of leadership, which views leadership nonhierarchically.
Constructive Dialogue also fits within that model, Montague said.
“This is the same kind of concept, with different terminology, which is how this connection with OTIE began,” Montague said. “We are doing very similar things. We wanted to know how we could work together more efficiently, and that is where this idea came from.”
Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Transformational and Inclusive Excellence, was thrilled for OTIE to partner with the Scholar Leader Community to bring Constructive Dialogue resources to this group of student leaders.
“This partnership between OTIE and Scholar Leaders is a great model for how students can benefit from these skills, and how at Miami we develop offerings to support and meet the needs of different populations,” Alcalde said.
“We are excited to see how Scholar Leaders use these skills during their time at Miami, and beyond.”
Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the Scholar Leader Community? Visit the website for more information.
