Social Change Model Featured at Johnson Student Development Institute

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Everyone knows that the jewel of California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is the Walter Pyramid, hosting Big West college sports and Olympic athletes. But sometimes during the year, it shines a little brighter with hidden gems at the Pointe, an event center inside the pyramid. On Friday, September 30, 2016, the Cynthia Johnson Student Development Institute welcomed Dr. Susan R. Komives, professor emerita from University of Maryland at College Park and leadership scholar. Dr. Komives reviewed and reflected on the 20th anniversary of the Social Change Model (SCM), a revolutionary leadership concept very much alive today. Born of the Eisenhower Leadership Grant, Drs. Sandy and Lena Astin, UCLA scholars in higher education, were awarded the funds to develop a new leadership model to be fitted for America’s youth and the changing diverse world in the 1990s. Dr. Komives and Dr. Cynthia Johnson, former CSULB professor and the namesake of the institute hosting the event, joined the Astins as part of the ensemble who founded SCM. This non-hierarchal, participatory model examines leadership from the perspectives of the individual, group, and society, graphically similar to a three-circle venn diagram. SCM can simply be remembered by the “Seven Cs.” Its seven components, all terms starting with the letter C, involve:

1. Consciousness of Self
2. Congruence
3. Commitment
4. Collaboration
5. Common Purpose
6. Controversy with Civility
7. Citizenship

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Dr. Komives gave the audience of college administrators, student affairs professionals, and graduate students insight into how collaboration among scholars, practitioners, and graduate students in higher education works. She described the ensemble of leadership educators as a family, sharing group photos from their working retreats, some of which were at the beach. She affectionately described Dr. Johnson as a member who brought the concept of care to both the group and model. Audience members had the rare opportunity to see the SCM from its inception to its evolution. As a values-based model driven to create positive social change, SCM positions leadership as relational and the model as adaptable to diverse settings and people.

Networking after the event was a special highlight for participants to meet and learn how the SCM is relevant in the lives of students and practitioners today. Dr. Matt Cabrera, Coordinator for CSULB’s Leadership Academy, conversed with Dr. Komives on how CSULB continues to use the “Seven Cs” as the basis for the Leadership Academy, a leadership development certificate program. Later, Amir Nia, a first-year Student Development in Higher Education (SDHE) graduate student, introduced himself to them and revealed himself as a graduate of the Leadership Academy as an undergraduate. Amir shared his appreciation for the program both for the honor of wearing the ceremonial Leadership Academy medal during graduation and for having learned the basics of leadership that encouraged him to participate more at his local mosque. Eight years later, Amir found himself at an event celebrating the same leadership model that motivated him to get a master’s degree and become a better leader, specifically an educator for college students in the SDHE program at CSULB. The meeting of theorist, practitioner, and student highlights how theory may transform into reality.

In concluding the institute, Dr. Anna Ortiz, chair of the Educational Leadership department, complimented Dr. Komives and her colleagues from the ensemble for inspiring the current leadership model. The conference was motivating for those in attendance to continue making positive change in the lives of our students and peers. Universities are often touted by society as impenetrable ivory towers. But how beautiful it is that CSULB truly has gems on its campus that nurture education’s best practices to develop worthy educators and leaders—from Amir to Robert Garcia, current city mayor of Long Beach and distinguished doctoral alumnus of CSULB’s College of Education.

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