On September 17, the Students Leaders’ Retreat 2022 was held for 160 student leaders from NUS interest groups and student societies at the Central Library Forum.
Student leaders had the opportunity to hear from a panel of Student Life professionals including Deputy Dean of Students Assoc Prof Adeline Seow and Dr Elmie Nekmat, staff from the Centre for Future-ready Graduates and fellow student leaders Jared Ng, fifth-year Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine undergraduate, and Deon Neo, third-year NUS Business School undergraduate.
Through interactive sharing sessions, student leaders explored how to address bias in leadership, the importance of soft skills and how to maximise their student life experience while in NUS.
Said Sean Tan, Head of Student Leadership and Development and organiser of the Student Leader Retreat 2022,
“The retreat is part of the training student leaders undergo in addition to online trainings. It reinforces key policies and guidelines relevant to student organisations and allows student leaders from different student organisations to share unique challenges and solutions.”
The work of leadership is to lead
Assoc Prof Seow said: “We lead through many ways — the way we organize events, maintain traditions, expand the membership of the society, improve members' skills and promote the cause of our organisation.”
As leaders, members of our group will look to us in three regards:
Firstly, setting direction – knowing the aspirations and needs of fellow members and students you have chosen to serve; as well as what you want to see collectively at the end of your term.
Secondly, alignment – what vision you want to communicate, how do you show sincerity and credibility.
Thirdly, energize and motivate – how to achieve the vision together with your team.
Assoc Prof Seow added, “A lot needs to be done, and that's why you have a team.”
“Harness as much diversity as possible - in terms of strengths and talents, views. Challenge each other's assumptions. At the end of the year, you will see that you have achieved a great deal for your society and interest group, as well as in terms of your personal growth.”
Looking after your wellbeing and that of others
"It is easy to forget about your own wellbeing even as you take on responsibility as a leader for others’ wellbeing,” Assoc Prof Seow said.
“Give time to build relationships, be kind to yourself and others when things go wrong and build in ‘down-time’. This is a journey that needs good pacing. Know when to conserve energy for the more intense periods.”
“Take advantage of the WellNUS festival. Find out more about NUSSU advocates and the NUS peer supporter network and how they can support you and your team,” she added.
On the need for good structure, governance and processes
"Accept the necessity of it, embrace it as scaffolding that has been developed over the years to be fit for purpose, build it into your plans so that you know your safety nets are in place," Assoc Prof Seow added.
Next, we interviewed Kian Zhang Quan, a student leader who attended the Student Leaders' Retreat, on his takeaways. He covered three relevant points:
1. Publicity via NUSync features and OSAY!
"Student leaders can use NUSync functions to generate event RSVPs and invite members for extra-curricular sessions. They can also request publicity for events through OSAY! via the form in NUSync. These optimise publicity for events," said Zhang Quan.
2. NUSync and Student Life transcript
"Some useful tips I learnt is that committee members get to update their role description in “reflection” under memberships in NUSync. Others include the storage cloud for committee handovers in NUSync and the use of Qualtrics for forms."
3. Other resources and opportunities available
"Applying for a NUS Student Organization email account to facilitate liaison and collaboration with internal or external partners, application for Residence Admissions Scheme (RAS) and creating an Internal Recognition and Recommendation Scheme (IRRS) are some things student leaders can note."
Lastly, Mr Sean Tan continued: “For their next steps, student leaders are also strongly encouraged to take up the Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) programme. This prepares them to be able to lead their student organisation effectively.”
“Many of our student leaders are practising leadership skills without realising but LEAD aims to raise awareness and sharpen these skills.”
Read our coverage of the second NUS Student Leaders' Retreat here.
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Shanice Poh, Year 3, NUS Business School
Photos courtesy of NUS Office of Student Affairs
