Leadership Excursion to the Adirondacks | 0.5 LSP Credits

Leadership Excursion to the Adirondacks

Leadership Programs is excited to announce our first Leadership Excursion of the year! On this Leadership Excursion to the Adirondacks, students will travel to the Saranac Lakes from August 29-31 2025, where they’ll test and enhance their leadership skills on three-day hiking, canoeing, and camping trip. The excursion team will paddle during the day and camp at night, covering a total distance of around 15-20 miles. While there is not a specific fitness test to participate, all participants must be able to swim (details below) and should be able to be physcially active all day--hiking, paddling, etc. with a moderate degree of challenge. 

On this unique excursion, students can expect to: 

• experience and overcome uncertainty and adversity;
• take turns assuming full responsibility for the entire group;
• receive real-time feedback on their leadership and followership efforts; and, 
• complete a reflection assignment to solidify learnings. 

Additional key tenets of the trip are:

• this is a "leave no trace" wilderness experience; and,
• this is a cellphone, alcohol, and substance-free excursion so students can be completely present through this shared learning experience

In short, this is a chance to practice, rather than just talk about, real leadership.

Interested?   
If you are interested in joining this excursion, please carefully review all of the following information and apply. The application will open in mid August (exact date will be announced) and is due by 11:59pm on Sunday August 17.
 

Leadership Excursions

 
Logistics
Eligibility: This excursion is open to all Ithaca-based, full-time residential MBA students studying at Johnson who have not already participated.

Schedule:
Thursday August 28: Mandatory meeting for all participants: orientation and gear check. Plan to leave your gear overnight. 
Friday, August 29: Plan to meet at ~5am on campus to depart for the Adirondacks. Transportation from campus to campgrounds is provided.
Sunday, August 31: Return to campus in early evening, clean and put away group gear from trip. This is not optional, all participants need to help with this step. Clean up should be done ~9pm. 

Physical Fitness and Swimming Skills: You must be comfortable around deep water and able to swim at least 300 meters while wearing a lifejacket to participate. You must also be comfortable hiking for extended periods of time. No previous canoeing or camping experience is necessary or required, but participants should be in good enough physical shape to be active all day and face moderate physical challenges.

Program Fee: This excursion is subsidized by Leadership Programs to increase accessibility.
Participant costs include:

• $150 non-refundable participant contribution through a bursar charge
• Items on the personal gear list that students don't have already have are the student's responsibility to obtain. Consider borrowing or renting these items as a way to keep costs down

• Impact Mindset
• Engagement
• Collaboration
• Action-Orientation
• Critical Thinking 

Questions? Please contact Jackie Barrett, associate director of leadership programs

File Attachments: ADK_gear_list_2024