Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Student organizations provided students with leadership opportunities, increased student involvement, and helped them build relationships. Student leaders struggled to balance their commitments to student organizations with academic responsibilities, jobs, family, and personal life. This study explored the leadership experiences of student leaders. The aim of this study was to investigate factors that shaped student leadership experiences and the sustainability of student organizations. Twelve student organizations were contacted, and approximately 50 student leaders were recruited. Participants first completed an intake survey that included demographic information and then participated in a semi-structured interview conducted via Zoom. The study examined how leadership roles and responsibilities affected students, the amount of time students devoted to their organizations, the extent of advisor support, levels of member involvement within the organizations, students’ motivation for assuming leadership roles, challenges that students encountered within their organizations, and students’ perceptions of leadership development and training. We will analyze qualitative interview data using thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns regarding student leadership experience. Expected findings include distinct themes surrounding how student leaders balance competing responsibilities, utilize advisor support, foster member involvement, and ensure long-term organizational sustainability. The study sought to create a more complete understanding of students’ experiences as leaders while managing competing demands and challenges that students encountered within their organizations. This study contributes to organizational literature by identifying the operational challenges and support structures that characterize student-led volunteer organizations. These findings may identify opportunities to improve leadership development, advisor support and training, member engagement, and the sustainability of student organizations at the University of North Georgia.
Date
November 2026
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Included in
Understanding Student Leadership and Organizational Sustainability at the University of North Georgia
Student organizations provided students with leadership opportunities, increased student involvement, and helped them build relationships. Student leaders struggled to balance their commitments to student organizations with academic responsibilities, jobs, family, and personal life. This study explored the leadership experiences of student leaders. The aim of this study was to investigate factors that shaped student leadership experiences and the sustainability of student organizations. Twelve student organizations were contacted, and approximately 50 student leaders were recruited. Participants first completed an intake survey that included demographic information and then participated in a semi-structured interview conducted via Zoom. The study examined how leadership roles and responsibilities affected students, the amount of time students devoted to their organizations, the extent of advisor support, levels of member involvement within the organizations, students’ motivation for assuming leadership roles, challenges that students encountered within their organizations, and students’ perceptions of leadership development and training. We will analyze qualitative interview data using thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns regarding student leadership experience. Expected findings include distinct themes surrounding how student leaders balance competing responsibilities, utilize advisor support, foster member involvement, and ensure long-term organizational sustainability. The study sought to create a more complete understanding of students’ experiences as leaders while managing competing demands and challenges that students encountered within their organizations. This study contributes to organizational literature by identifying the operational challenges and support structures that characterize student-led volunteer organizations. These findings may identify opportunities to improve leadership development, advisor support and training, member engagement, and the sustainability of student organizations at the University of North Georgia.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology