A Day in the Life of a College Student Leader: Case Studies for Undergraduate Leaders (review)

New student leaders often lament that they have very little training in how to undertake the responsibilities of their newly acquired leadership positions. Sarah Marshall and Anne Hornak attempt to move beyond a discussion of student leader concerns to develop a better learning experience for these students through the use of case studies. These case studies cover broad areas in student leadership areas and are intended for use by faculty, student affairs professionals, and student organization advisors.

The cases appear at the beginning of the book in the form of a useful table, which breaks down each case according to topic, functional area, and type of conflict or issue. The introductory chapter provides a brief and helpful guide about how to utilize the case studies: steps for analyzing key points, discussing stakeholders, and identifying possible courses of action. The authors also suggest different methods of use based on the reader’s role: written assignments by faculty, or one-on-one discussions between the student leader and the advisor.

Chapter 2 moves beyond simple suggestions to a wider discussion of using student development theory in case analysis, demonstrating with a case example from the book. The authors first analyze the case without theory, offering sample discussion questions and possible outcomes. They next evaluate the case using the same questions and possible outcomes but suggest that the facilitator employ a variety of developmental theories (focusing on student growth and learning, cognitive development, or leadership development theory). Utilizing theory in case analyses helps students, just as it does student life practitioners and faculty, to better understand the variety of issues regarding student leadership on their campuses.

Chapters 3 through 11 are case studies covering a range of areas that involve students in a wide variety of leadership positions and situations: residence life, student government, Greek life, minority/unrepresented groups, orientation/welcome week, activities/programming board/fee allocations, honor/academic/professional associations, service learning, and general leadership cases.

The final chapter consists of tips and advice for new student leaders that the authors solicited from current student leaders. Presented in random order, these suggestions range from how to effectively run a student group to how to help balance a leadership role with being a student.

This book works well as a teaching and student leader development tool for several reasons. The cases presented in each chapter cover a wide range of topics and functional areas. The situations also vary in complexity. Most cases can easily be adapted to the institution’s type or location, or to the student leader’s style or position. As a student affairs practitioner at a small, private, liberal arts, church-affiliated college, I found it rather easy to adapt situations from a large public university to my own campus setting.

Many of the cases presented in one situation could easily be adapted to student leaders in another situation. For example, many of the cases presented for orientation and Welcome Week can be easily applied to residence life. Cases are also timely, including examples involving technology and Facebook.

Several cases can lead to a deeper discussion about how a student leader fits in the larger college community because they clearly suggest the involvement of college and university staff and officials.

Each case comes with suggested discussion questions, beginning by asking participants to identify the issues in the case. The depth of questions often correlates to the complexity of the dilemma presented. Questions move beyond the specific case’s basic issues to larger questions, making the cases adaptable to varying types of institutions, organizations, or situations.

Despite the wide range of student leadership issues covered, I was surprised by the lack of cases dealing with student athletes as leaders. In my Division III college, student athlete captains and team members are often involved in leadership roles with their fellow student athletes and college officials. Some...