2-Year Curriculum
The core Leadership Academy curriculum is delivered through off-campus, weekend retreats at no cost to participants. Three of the four retreats address key leadership topics through hands-on activities and discussions led by college faculty, corporate guests, and program alumni. A fourth retreat is provided by FRAMATOME, one of the Leadership Academy corporate sponsors. Students participate in one retreat during their first fall semester, two retreats in the following spring semester, and a retreat in the second fall semester. Retreats begin on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday afternoon. All travel, lodging and food expenses are covered by the academy.
Students dedicate the bulk of their third and fourth semesters of participation to creating and implementing a Capstone Community Leadership Service Project. The project offers students an experiential way to apply what they have learned through the academy and to contribute to their local communities.
In addition to retreats and the service project, the academy sponsors various other activities during the academic year. These events include, but are not limited to, motivational dinners, etiquette dinners, social networking workshops and presentations by industry professionals.
Year One
Team-building and collaboration are essential skills for leaders to understand and apply. This introductory module begins with students learning about their Cohort members to begin building camaraderie. Emphasis is placed on the differences between leadership and management, basic communications, change management, and problem-solving.
Good leaders know their beliefs & values and make choices that align with them. Cohort members start with an in-depth evaluation of themselves – who they are, what influenced them to make them unique, and how those influences defined their assumptions and beliefs. Students are given a dominant personality self-assessment. They are provided an ethical decision-making approach and are challenged with value collisions and difficult conversations to help them understand the importance of speaking-up.
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Leaders must be able to deal with difficult circumstances of many types. One of the most difficult is communications. Working with one of our corporate sponsors, Framatome, Cohort members are trained on how to successfully facilitate and navigate uncomfortable conversations in high-stakes situations where people with strong emotions and differing opinions are an integral part of the conflict.
Year Two
Implementation of a vision and strategy is rarely successful without great leadership. Now that the Cohort members have been exposed to fundamental leadership skills in the previous modules, students reflect again on their values and how they influence their personal vision. With an understanding of the differences of vision, mission, and strategy, and with the results of a StrengthFinder self-assessment, Cohort members develop a vision for themselves and learn a framework for success to achieve their vision.
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The Leadership Academy Capstone Project is an opportunity for participants to apply the many leadership, communications, teamwork, and personal growth lessons experienced over the term of their Cohort. The project focus is a community-based activity where students implement a positive impact on a non-academic interest or passion for something or someone else. Cohort members form small teams with similar community interests. Capstone enables Cohort members to lead sections of the project, including scope development, design, implementation, and presentation of the results.
Graduation is a time of celebration. The Cohort has reached the culmination of their Leadership Academy experience. The event is attended by the Cohort and selected friends, the follow-on Cohort, the Leadership Academy Advisory Board, and the Dean of the College of Engineering. The Capstone Showcase is the Cohort Capstone teams’ presentations of their project results and lessons learned. It is a time for all in attendance to be proud!
Cohort Module & Retreat Dates
