DeKALB | The NIU Leadership Academy, an organization designed to develop leadership skills in students, is accepting applications for next semester.

The Student Involvement and Leadership Development program was started in July 2005 and has been developing leadership skills in students since. The deadline for applications is Dec. 1, and students can pick up applications and return them to the Campus Life Building, Room 150.

“It’s an opportunity to build good career skills, to get to know people and build skills we naturally have,” said Monica Trevino, associate director of Student Involvement and Leadership Development. “We’re here to help students build relationships and enable them to make critical decisions and choose to serve first while emerging others.”

The program is a three-tier system in which students learn the skills necessary for effective leadership. The tiers are broken down into emerging, evolving and engaging leaders.

Emerging leaders build relationships, learn effective decision making, meet new people and go through a mentoring program, Trevino said.

After the first tier, students move on to the second and third tiers. Students are more involved with the program and get an opportunity to run workshops and mentor new students. It also is an opportunity for students to use skills they may have learned throughout their college career.

“Students get an opportunity to apply what they’re learning in the classroom,” said Jeffrey Meyer, a graduate assistant in the SILD office. “Student organization involvement is kind of your laboratory to run experiments to apply class knowledge.”

The skills developed in the leadership program can really benefit students in future experiences.

“It is something that would help me when I want to get involved and possibly in charge of organizations,” said Marjean Pobuda, a freshman mechanical engineering major. “It teaches good skills for any student who would want to hold leadership positions later on in their career or college.”

The program holds workshops every few weeks on campus. Students who are not involved are welcome to attend and gain knowledge on good leadership skills. The program also holds leadership roundtables which target student issues on campus.

“It’s a forum for students to talk about what they feel is important,” Trevino said.