by Maggie Worth
The University of West Georgia held its first-ever Leadership Development Institute (LDI) retreat on May 8 & 9 at the university’s Campus Center. The day-and-a-half meeting brought together more than 200 supervisors, managers, department heads, directors, and executives from across the campus as part of UWG’s Engage West initiative, a series of programs designed to facilitate cross-divisional and departmental communication, leadership development and training, strong employee relations and maximum operational effectiveness – all with the goal of increasing student success and creating a best place to work, learn, and succeed. The retreat kicked off with a “connect to purpose” presentation from a UWG student speaker, who explained what an engaged environment at UWG provided for his leadership development and how these opportunities helped him form the leader, person and successful student he is today.
Participants also attended sessions on growth and progression in individual leadership, setting SMART goals and planning for high unit performance as well as a case review of important UWG initiatives. Annual personnel review practices and year-end reporting were also reviewed. The university has committed to holding LDIs every 90 days in order to continue development of and communication between its leaders.
"Our goal and commitment to develop and train leadership at UWG is essential if we are to realize our goal of becoming one of the best comprehensive universities in America,” said university President Kyle Marrero. “Our new strategic plan, mission, vision and values are merely words. The time we take now to invest in building a culture of high performance and evidence-based leadership principles will ensure these words become action and action becomes culture. Ultimately, it will be our students who benefit and succeed from an engaged faculty and staff delivering high quality, innovative, relevant programs."
Among UWG’s main goals are continuing to improve student retention, progression and graduation rates, offering truly impactful experiential learning opportunities and increasing access through a combination of innovative partnerships and cutting-edge course delivery methods.
For more information about all the Engage West projects, including the LDIs, the university’s new strategic plan and more, please visit www.westga.edu/engagewest.
