Who-Do of the Month Advisory Poll: August 2010

Now that we are full-swing into September, it’s time to recognize another Who-Do of the Month. This is a simple recognition activity that began this summer. Jeff Jackson was recognized for his efforts to create free and low-cost-of-entry professional development programs for student affairs professionals through BreakDrink.com and his emerging podcast network. Ed Cabellon was recognized for his social media education efforts and his live uStream video interview series at On the Go with Ed Cabellon.

August was a strange month, as it always is, for those who work in Student Affairs. As usual, staff went into training and orientation mode, and social networking and blog traffic slowed to a trickle of what it could have been. At the end of July, both HigherEdCareerCoach and HigherEdLifeCoach hit their highest single days of traffic, only to have traffic flattened by August and training.

Amid this comparative silence, though, I kept finding tweets and blog posts about LeaderShape at different schools across the country. There are other great back-to-school leadership programs, not to mention staff training and new-student orientation programs that likely deserve recognition. Some of these happen in August and some later into the semester. But conversations about LeaderShape did stand out. So for this week’s advisory poll for Who-Do of the Month, I’d like to get input about Leadershape, and other programs that help students kick off the academic year.

As usual, I’m offering the opportunity to nominate other people and programs, and it’s possible that something else will emerge as the right answer.

What do you think? Please take the poll, reply with suggestions and leave some comments about the feelings and rationale behind your vote. The poll closes Friday and the honoree will be announced in a blog post next week.