Per the the Preface of the National Youth Leadership Symposium Monograph No.1 [1990], "The University of Northern Iowa's Youth Leadership Studies program has established a new support base to education for youth service organization careers. Commitment to the challenges and opportunities of the program is extremely high throughout the University among students, faculty, and administration. One of the key challenges to the program is to conduct an annual national symposium on important issues to the profession."

Monographs were produced by UNI's Institute for Youth Leaders covering each of the National Youth Leadership Symposiums that were held annually from 1990 to 1994.