Tuesday, March 31st was no ordinary day at Nichols College. I walked into the President’s Office, on time for my meeting. “President Weeks is ready for you,” Lynn Looby, the President’s assistant told me. I walked into the office, smiling, happy to see my friend and classmate, Chad Weeks, sitting behind the president’s desk.
The “President for a Day” contest was started by Lynn Looby, to give a student the opportunity to experience a day as the President of Nichols. In turn, President Susan Engelkemeyer would attend the student’s classes and daily activities. The day was jam-packed for Chad, starting with a presentation at a meeting with the President’s Council at 8:00a.m. He made sure to make time to hold office hours to meet with students from 10:30-11:30 a.m., then continued on to meet with various faculty, staff and vice presidents.
When I met with Chad that morning, he was excited to take on the day, to see what went on behind the scenes at Nichols and to learn the reasons why decisions are made. He was surprised at the amount of transparency the college displayed, being completely honest about the state of affairs and inner workings.
When asked about his experience, Chad said:
“My favorite part was meeting and speaking with different Nichols faculty throughout the day. I learned who they were, what they did, and why what they do is so important to our campus. I learned the structure in which Nichols College works and operates. I have a tremendous improvement in my understanding of how a business and our school operates. I would definitely do it again if I could. It was a lot of work but I had a great experience. I would recommend it to anyone who was interested on campus to apply and do it. Not only do you get to sit at a cool desk, but you get to work with great people. My practical knowledge has greatly increased. I would not trade the experience for anything else.”
This was a great experience for Chad, and probably President Engelkemeyer as well! I’ve heard that a day in the life of a student is not complete without a round of Madden NFL, which is exactly what she did! Hopefully this will become an annual contest at Nichols College, as a way to connect with the student body and experience both undergraduate life and a day in the role of the president.
