April 16, 2014

By Lauren Piek

In college students choose a major to study so that a dream job can be achieved after graduation.

UW-Whitewater’s LEAP initiative was created to help students understand what employers are looking for. LEAP is hosting an exhibit April 16 to 30 at Roberta’s Art Gallery in the University Center. The event will be free and open to the public.

The exhibit, titled “LET’s LEAP:A Vision for Learning,” is meant to celebrate four years of LEAP achievements at UW-Whitewater.

Kalyn Maxfield, integrated marketing and communications project manager, has lead the way in helping LEAP teams throughout campus come together to create the exhibit.

“LEAP is an initiative on campus that helps faculty, staff and students understand what employers are looking for in college graduates,” Maxfield said. “One of the ways we do that is by putting LEAP teams together, which are a mix of faculty, staff and students, and we work in different departments to help students achieve the skills those employers are looking for.”

Part of the exhibit will show what these teams have done, their projects and the workshops they have put on, Maxfield said. The goal is to make students more aware of LEAP and the elements involved with LEAP, such as the essential learning outcomes and programs of the initiative, Maxfield said.

The exhibit will feature frog origami, posters, slideshows and videos and raffle tickets for those attending the gallery and the reception. The reception is on April 23 from noon to 1:30 p.m. and will feature student profiles, Maxfield said. The students will talk about their experiences and how those experiences through LEAP have helped them, Maxfield said.

“LEAP: A Vision for Learning” is just one of the many exhibits that Roberta’s Art Gallery offers throughout the year. Kim Adams, the assistant director of Roberta’s Art Gallery, said she always is looking for opportunities to best connect to what’s happening on campus overall, and having a balance of visiting artist artwork, faculty/staff and certainly student artwork.

“Every year is a little bit different,” Adams said. We look for an exhibit to relate to what’s going on, and at other times, we have opportunities in the schedule that allow us to be more creative with newer ideas.”

The exhibit also will display examples of student involvement, tying in the first year experience, undergraduate research and LEAP teams who have gone on trips, Maxfield said.

Graduate Assistant for Roberta’s Art Gallery, Silvia Reyes, is part of a LEAP team and also helped put the exhibit together. She wants to see what other LEAP teams are getting from LEAP, not only her team, Reyes said.

“I want everyone in the gallery to know more about LEAP, and I hope all the community learns about LEAP,” Reyes said. “Not everybody knows what LEAP is about.”

The exhibit will be a great opportunity for students to see what different student organizations and campus initiatives can do for their career prospects, Maxfield said.

“I hope students take away that going to classes is not just their education,” Maxfield said. “Getting involved in student organizations, getting involved in those experiences on campus are really beneficial to them and can really help them in their career.”