Leadership Programs Give Students an Edge
Leadership is a worldwide concern that more American colleges and universities are starting to look at in a new, more academic light.According to the Center for Creative Leadership, more than 200 colleges and universities in the United States offer some form of leadership studies, whether in the form of a major, minor, certificate program, emphasis or just a collection of courses.
"`Civic engagement' is the buzzword," said Jeanne Jackson, director of Leadership Studies at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama. "And I think that it is really addressing the essence of the issues we're facing in this country -- getting students who want to see change to look at what it means."
The University of Richmond in Virginia established the first and only undergraduate leadership school in the country, the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, in 1992.
"The thinking was that there was something more that could be done with the liberal arts education," said Sandra Peart, dean of the Jepson School.
Birmingham-Southern College's Distinction in Leadership Studies program emerged in 1994.
"It's a more complex place that students are graduating into," Jackson said. "And so I think that was what instigated the change -- were we doing enough for students in a world that's different than it was?"
But, not everyone thought of leadership as a viable academic discipline.
"Some faculty felt, 'We already teach leadership -- we don't need anything else,'" Jackson said. "But they were really the minority."
Peart also faced some opposition from faculty who looked at leadership studies and said, "That's not a discipline. What is it -- climbing ropes?"
But research shows that leadership is something that needs to be learned, and supporting programs are widespread.
"It's probably where women's studies was a few years ago," Jackson said.
When the Center for Creative Leadership was founded in 1970, there were "only a handful of books at the library on leadership," said John Ryan, president of CCL. "Now there's a handful every week."
"As college administrators and professors, I think we assumed students would get leadership skills if we just gave them good solid textbook information," Peart said. But school administrators soon realized they needed to take a more direct approach.
Unfortunately, funding problems remain a major hurdle for many schools interested in offering a leadership program. Jepson only got off the ground after Robert S. Jepson, Jr., a Richmond alumnus, donated $20 million. Texas Christian University started their program, the BNSF Next Generation Leadership Program, in 2006 after receiving a multi-million dollar donation from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation.
Peart considers Jepson fortunate to have a faculty devoted just to the school, while most schools pull faculty with an interest in leadership topics from their primary disciplines like Birmingham-Southern does.
Jepson students graduate with a bachelor of arts in leadership studies, but Peart says she recommends pairing it with another degree to really set the student apart.
Most other college programs offer leadership studies as a complement to their primary course of study. Students who complete the five-part Distinction in Leadership Studies program at Birmingham-Southern graduate with a distinction in leadership -- a certificate not a minor or major. Texas Christian University's students accepted into the BNSF Next Generation Leadership Program graduate from the Neeley School of Business with an emphasis in leadership; again, not a minor.
"At TCU and Neeley we spend so much time talking to the business community and there is a widespread recognition that all of our employers want leadership skills on top of the functional business degree," Christine Riordan said. "Adding to, rather than replacing, makes it a very powerful package."
Riordan, the associate dean for external relations and the Luther Henderson University Chair in Leadership for Neeley, estimates that 85 percent of the students graduating from the Next Generation program in May already have a job waiting for them.
Jessica Miller, a senior finance and real estate major at TCU, will be a part of the first graduating class of Next Generation. Her internship with Trademark Property Co. has developed into a full-time position as a property investment associate after graduation. She said that with the skill set the Next Generation program has given her, it makes it a "no-brainer" for an employer to choose her over someone without the same skills. And the extra coursework, Miller said, while time-consuming, is much more interesting because it's more applicable than her other coursework.
"Next Generation has been the one thing at TCU that I will probably remember for the rest of my life," Miller said.
Ryan, of CCL, spent about 10 years in higher education before joining the global provider of leadership-focused education.
"The key thing is that I don't think you make something mandatory," Ryan said. "Learning is about being interested in the subject. You learn at a much faster rate. I think we should advocate (leadership programs), but not require (them)."
Ryan said the CCL method of assessment, challenge and support is "tried and true in helping individuals realize their leadership potential." And most leadership programs do follow a similar pattern. For instance, TCU's Next Generation students assess their strengths and weaknesses, learn interpersonal skills, how to lead others and, finally, how to lead projects.
The great thing about the program, Riordan said, is that students develop a sense of who they are, where they are and where they want to be -- a sense of maturity in the workforce. The program gives them a safe environment to practice and develop things they want to be better at _ like being more assertive and confident.
TCU's leadership program is only available to business majors, but more open programs, like those at Richmond and Birmingham-Southern, attract students from all disciplines. There tend to be more students from social science, business, and arts and humanities programs but there are also a few pre-med and science students. Peart would personally love to see more science majors in Jepson.
"Our students are diverse in their interests," Peart said. "They are risk-takers. They're choosing a degree that has less of a direct route. (And) they're keeping a lot of doors open."
She estimates that about a quarter of Jepson graduates will go on to graduate programs fairly soon after graduation with just a leadership degree. Of those who go to work, she estimates that about 20 percent will be in non-profit, others will go into the for-profit industry and still more will pursue a "spattering" of other careers.
Birmingham-Southern strongly emphasizes the importance of community service in all disciplines, but especially in leadership studies.
"We really feel very passionate about these kids needing to be involved in social change," Jackson said. "These students are going to be in positions of influence and our hope is that by combining the look of leadership and social advocacy they'll have the skills, they'll have observed it and they'll be committed to making those changes that they will have thought about since college days."
The school has regular associations with about 10 agencies that students volunteer at, while others choose an organization that best fits their interests like the humane society, an art museum or AIDS clinics.
"I think these kids are really much more engaged than my generation was," Jackson said.
John Ryan, a retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral, agrees.
"I'm very optimistic about our country's future because of the millennial generation," he said. "They are more aware of their environment, socially and economically -- aware of the power of groups. They're so much more interested in being part of something larger than themselves."
Jackson hopes the next step for Birmingham's program is to develop relationships with study abroad programs so students can get a leadership perspective from an international institution.
"I've been in 95 countries," Ryan said. "And there wasn't a country that I landed in and their morning paper didn't say, 'we need better or more leadership'...The earlier we start promoting leadership, the better off we'll be."
Said Peart: "For 15 years we've been teaching students about ethical decision-making in positions of leadership, community engagement, leadership as it relates to large and small groups, about how you can effect change as you see the need to, and they've been going out into the world and taking their dreams and hopes. I think we've made an impact."
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© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
