Oregon Institute for Leadership Development

ElktonOILD is a 4-day, all-inclusive, professional development opportunity for community college women interested in leadership, as well as personal and professional growth.

Session topics include:

  • Leadership
  • Teambuilding
  • Institutional politics
  • Communication styles
  • Organizational change

How to attend

To attend OILD, you must be nominated. You are absolutely allowed to nominate yourself. Ask your local chapter about their process for nominating applicants. If there is no established process (or no local chapter), use thisĀ generic application form. Turn in to your local chapter or college president’s office by April.

Not sure if you “belong in a leadership group”? Don’t worry. If you’re a woman working in the Oregon community college system, that means OILD is for you.

OILD key dates

Here is the classic annual schedule for this event:

  • April: College presidents nominate a representative for their college
  • May: Colleges submit nominees and alternates, nominees are confirmed and contacted by OILD
  • July: Institute held at Big K Ranch in Elkton, Oregon

History

silver falls

Many community college women who attended the National Institute for Leadership Development wanted to create a process for Oregon women who did not have a Master’s Degree and were therefore ineligible for NILD. A committee was formed by the OAAWCC Chapter to see what a similar workshop could look like should we offer one. Lily O’Rielly chaired it. Stephanie Sussman was on it as was Alice Jacobson and several other women. They came up with a plan.

The major hump was how to get the college presidents to support it. Stephanie Sussman went around to several of them and spoke to them about the workshop and their need to support and cover costs. At the time PCC had three college Campus Deans who sat on the President’s Council who were women, Alice Jacobson, Betty Duva ll and Pamela Transue and Darlene was President of Clatsop CC. They brought the issue to the President’s Council and I believe there was a unanimous approval to support it. The first one was held at Silver Falls. NILD supported it from the beginning. The founders always thought of OILD as a way to provide support for women to go back to school and increase their skills. So in a way it was a feeder for future NILD participants.

In 1995, Stephanie Sussman wrote her dissertation on OILD identifying the key elements needed in a leadership training program for women in CC’s. She did a survey of the participants, their supervisors when they went to OILD and their supervisors at the time of the survey, The results were overwhelmingly positive.

In 2006, the Oregon Institute for Leadership Development received the Model Award at the AACC convention.

Past OILD materials