Mission Statement
The USF Leadership House is a Living Learning Community which fosters intellectual growth, self-development and a structured learning environment for students to identify, cultivate and practice their leadership skills. Grounded in the theoretical framework and traditions of servant-leadership, residents learn about leadership through a diverse and dynamic fellowship that encourages mutual support and virtuous "service" to each other, their community and their world.
Vision Statement
The USF Leadership House will be a world-class Living Learning Community for students seeking knowledge about leadership; to develop their leadership skills; to become future leaders of their generation; and to advocate the ideas and notions of honorable and ethical leadership for the generations beyond. The house will be filled with enthusiastic students engaged in activities that serve others, champion social justice, and promote the Leadership House as a preeminent residential learning environment.
What is the Leadership House?
The Leadership House is a living-learning community of freshman to graduate level students all dedicated to learning about leadership. Our program provides a unique opportunity for students to experientially learn about and develop their own leadership skills. A selected group of members live together throughout the academic year in the residence halls on USF’s Tampa campus. Beginning Fall 2009, The Leadership House program will reside in Eta Hall, one of the suite-styled residence halls.
Our members are largely self-governed and we run our House based on the belief that each of our members are equals. For our weekly House meetings there is a group of six house members who plan and run the meetings themselves each week. Those six House members are called the BOS or Board of Servants. Each month of the academic semesters House members volunteer to become the BOS for that particular month. The BOS’s responsibility is to run the House meetings that consist of group activities that focus on leadership. These meetings are at the center of the Leadership House experience and are a truly unique experience you have to experience to understand. At these meetings we are able to learn, grow, and gain knowledge from each other. Meetings can often include activities, speakers, skits, discussions, voting, games, and much much more. Their shape and function is only limited by the creativity of our past, current, and future members.
This program is unique in the amount of faculty support. Our Housemaster guides us through our leadership experiences and journeys. This person allows us to solve our own problems and encourages us to take situations into our own hands. Our Housemaster will step in if we need an outside prospective as well without jeopardizes the autonomy of our members. Our Housing & Residential Education advisors guide us on the Housing part of our program. With their help we are able to flourish and grow in our residential community. The Leadership House program has also been working recently to grow connections to the new USF Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE). The directors of this department function as advisors for our program and bring us very unique prospective and opportunities offered to our members through their department.
At the start of each semester (Spring and Fall), we come together for our House Orientation. In the fall, Orientation is a three-day event, the weekend prior to the start of the semester. The weekend is spent acquainting new members (and re-acquainting old members) with the House – our history and traditions, our current status and procedures, and our outlook for the future. The group participates in many icebreakers and team-building activities, with the mission to build a strong sense of community and trust amongst all the members. At this Orientation, advisors are introduced, and our Leadership House community, members and advisors, work together to develop a list of goals for the year. In the Spring, Orientation is a more condensed version from the one in the Fall. It is a one-day event that takes place the weekend before the spring semester begins. In the case that new members have joined the House in the spring, icebreakers are provided to introduce any new members with the rest of the group. The group also participates in various activities to further develop as leaders and grow as a community. Everyone is (re)acquainted with the House, and the goals produced in the fall are assessed and revamped. The goal of this Orientation is to have the group come together, refocus, and prepare for the semester ahead.
We participate in two main community service events that USF offers every year – Community Plunge and Stampede of Service. We’re proud to participate in USF’s annual Dance Marathon event that delivers all proceeds to benefit of the All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. The House also provides at least one opportunity for our members to participate in community service each month of the academic school year.
One of the most common praises of the Leadership House is the strong sense of family, trust, and community amongst its members. In fact, all of our members are referred to as Geese since the goose is the House mascot. For an inspiring story on why, please refer to the Goose Story in the Servant Leadership section of our site. Our unique community is hard to describe to someone who has never experienced life as a goose but we have tried our best to give you a glimpse into our community throughout this website. If you have any more questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact us. We love to hear from the community and we would love to be able to have you join us!
House History
The Leadership House at the University of South Florida became the first servant-leadership based residence hall in the country when it was formed in 1996. Our program was the brain-child of a group of students in USF’s business program. These students were inspired by their studies of the concept of servant leadership and in particular, the parable of Teacher as Servant written by Robert K. Greenleaf.
The program was originally funded on the principles of servant-leadership and today we use this philosophy in the structure of our program. This philosophy allows our members to experience concepts such as autonomy, volunteering, equality, challenge by choice, and more. Members of the House however are not limited simply to the principles of servant-leadership. Our program has expanded to be able to teach the skills, values, philosophies, and experiences of all styles of leadership including overviews of the history of leadership philosophy throughout history.
The Leadership House was first located in the Eta Hall residence hall. The program was moved to Theta Hall, a suite-style residence hall in the Andros 2 area, and home to our 39 current residents. We are very excited to announce that our program will be relocated back to Eta Hall beginning Fall 2009!
The Leadership House has a rich and proud history. We have produced many alumni who have gone on to many great successes after their time within our halls. Some of our alumni achievements include USF Student Body Presidents, medical school students, community college professors, high school teachers, members of Americorps, and many more.
House Activities
Community Service:
Each Fall semester we encourage our members to participate in the annual Community Plunge volunteer effort hosted by USF. This event is typically hosted the Saturday before the Fall academic semester starts allowing us time to devote to our community before our course load becomes our first priority. We go out into the Tampa Bay community and help those in need whether it be cleaning senior citizen’s apartments, helping children’s homes beautification, or helping the environment. Stampede of Service is another annual community service event that happened in the Spring. For Stampede of Service the main focus is on beautification projects throughout Tampa Bay. Dance Marathon is a service event in which all proceeds go to the All Children’s Hospital. This is an all year event to which different clubs and organizations become teams raising money until the Spring Semester. Then in March on a Saturday all teams come together for an all night marathon filled with activities raising awareness for the All Children’s Hospital.
Leadership:
Our members are offered many unique opportunities for leadership development during their time here. Our members have attended leadership conferences including the National Conference on Student Leadership, Emerging Leaders Conference, Rising Leaders Symposium, and many others.
We also sponsor our own leadership events including the First Annual USF LEAD Week in 2008 and the Lead Conference during the summer which invites students from local high schools to stay on campus for a weekend and learn how they too can become leaders in their lives and in their futures.
Other:
Our House also participates in our own socials whether it be a dance party, board games in our lobby, or even going out to dinner. We are one big family and we constantly strive to be leaders in our own right.
House Goals
At the beginning of each semester, the members of the Leadership House come up with their own goals for the program. Some of the goals for Spring 2009 include: