Learning the Ropes

Immersion Experience Fosters Leadership Trust

“Research has shown that engagement opportunities, whether outside of class or embedded in course projects, are trans-formative for students,” says Mike Zeman, program director of the Penn State Student Engagement Network.

When Jennifer Eury ’05 COM, ’07 M.ED EDU, ’14 Ph.D. EDU, clinical assistant professor of management and organization at the Penn State Smeal College of Business, was selected as a fellow in the Faculty Academy for Engaged Scholarship, it opened a door to the possibilities of experiential learning.

As a fellow, Eury received funding that allowed 65 students from two sections of her Management 355–Leadership and Change in Organizations course to participate in a leadership immersion experience on the ropes course at Stone Valley Recreation Area, about 13 miles from the University Park campus.

Student response to the experience last fall was overwhelmingly positive. Elina Fantilli, a junior management major, says the combination of the concepts learned in class, the leadership immersion experience and the reflection and class discussion that tied them all together revealed future uses for what the students learned.

“When we are sitting in class, it’s one thing to say that we trust people and we understand them. However, it’s a whole different scenario when you’re high up in the air and trust is the only thing you have to complete the challenge at hand,” Fantilli says. “Because of that experience, we are able to put trust into a perspective that we all experienced together and now we can take what we learned and apply it to our own relationships and future careers.”


Watch: Leadership Immersion


Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed