Building civic capacity
Our research strengthens the public good. We work to understand how to build communities and organizations that are resilient to the ever-changing world. We study how groups, organizations and systems think about leadership. And we explore how to mobilize people to do this important work.
Highlights of current work
We partner with the Kansas Leadership Center’s Third Floor Research program to better understand how leadership is exercised and how leadership capacity is developed in others. Tim Steffensmeier leads this effort in a joint appointment as KLC’s director of research and oversees our leadership communication doctoral program.Our faculty seek to build community capacity for civic leadership through university-community partnerships that emphasize dialogue and sense-making, and collective action.Making progress in civic life requires a different kind of leadership and a different lens for scholarship than we may typically see.Faculty and graduate students advance organizational development efforts with for-profit and non-profit organizations to increase an entity's capacity for change and adaptability.
Our research statement
Our world requires leadership to boldly address complex social, political, economic, ecological and moral challenges. Community members must be prepared and committed to designing systems, organizations and institutions that advance a common good. Competing commitments to a common good are negotiated through leadership activity. This activity is socially-responsible and includes interpersonal relationships, professional careers and civic life. Building civic capacity is how we prepare communities to organize themselves and mobilize others towards a life of purpose and service.
Staley School of Leadership
252 Leadership Studies Building
1300 Mid-Campus Dr. N.
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6085
leadership@ksu.edu