Concordia College - Moorhead
IN-1: Innovation 1

Concordia College's High Impact Leadership Trips (or HILTs) are a new and exciting experience for students. In February 2012, fifteen students embarked on a successful spring break to Kentucky to meet with student and environmental leaders and learn about the complicated social, environmental, and economic implications of mountain-top removal coal mining. After returning to campus, students created an excellent video, and organized events to share their experiences. The focus of the trip, location, and logistics and planning were entirely student initiated and led. Staff and faculty are available as resources, and a staff member accompanies students on the trip. Travel and expenses related to the experience are highly subsidized by the college in order to make the experience affordable for students. Based on the success of the first program, students organized another HILT to Portland in February 2013 to continue to explore sustainable living and the interplay between policy, the systems in which we live, and way of life. There is the hope and expectation that these HILTs continue into the future and continue to offer students an important avenue for leadership and learning. An upcoming trip is planned for February 2014 to the Florida Everglades to further explore important sustainability themes.