Stillman School of Business

Curriculum

Academic

The academic side to the Leadership Development Honors Program boasts a challenging framework of diverse business and liberal arts courses enabling a broad base from which to build the skills, talents and capabilities of highly effective leadership. Select courses provide the intimacy of a leadership students only designation, allowing both faculty and leadership students to engage in a "higher-learning" environment and dialogue as well as providing a forum for closer team development and camaraderie. Study abroad is highly encouraged to develop the students' global understanding and perspective. Students must maintain a minimum overall GPA of 3.4 to remain in the program.

Experiential

  • Junior Year Mentorship Program - Junior Mentorship is the centerpiece of the Program, providing LDHP juniors a unique opportunity to work one-on-one on a major project with an Advisory Council executive as a mentor. This program further strengthens the students' leadership skills (e.g. innovation and creativity, global perspective, critical thinking, analytical skills) during a year-long partnership and collaboration on a mutually agreed project. The experience allows LDHP students the opportunity to assume the role of a senior officer and demonstrate how they would effectively deal with a major issue that they identify. This highly challenging experience concludes with the students' development of a paper and its presentation to a faculty committee. Scholarships are awarded to the top three students for their work.
     
  • Ideas & Trends - This course, developed by the LDHP Class of 2009, establishes an intellectual framework to facilitate the development of critical thinking skills through the use of innovative technology, fieldwork and collaboration. The course enables students to identify, evaluate and translate ideas and trends into theoretical and conceptual models for leaders to use in addressing future events. Completed during their junior year, LDHP students prepare themselves for future officer and senior executive positions by delving into the ideas and trends that continuously disrupt the norms of global/domestic business, politics, culture, and society and which challenge the executives to effectively lead their organizations, its people and the communities they serve.
     
  • Leadership 101 - Leadership 101 introduces first-year leadership development students to the Center, the Stillman School and the University. Students examine the variety of learning opportunities available to LDHP students including the leadership curriculum and its place in the School and University. Students explore a variety of topical issues that influence their broader learning experience. This learning opportunity establishes the platform and learning framework for leadership development students to navigate and pursue a highly successful and rewarding University experience. The platform and framework serve to instill an ethical value mindset, create a deeper self-knowledge, broaden their perspectives and thought-processes and provide an awareness of the various processes and tools at their disposal that will strengthen their effectiveness and efficiency on their university and life's journeys.
     
  • Initiatives - Program initiatives are training grounds for developing LDHP students' leadership skills and talents. Students challenge and stretch themselves by leading and participating in a wide variety of projects and team activities that contribute to the growth of the Program, the Stillman School and the University. Many of the projects are student-initiated and reflect their passion to add value in all that they do and their focus on creating change and delivering results. Other opportunities come from external businesses that approach the Center for Leadership Development requesting LDHP student involvement in major projects to support their business needs. These activities provide students opportunities for high visibility and recognition for their accomplishments, as well as valuable networking contacts. Examples of previous efforts include: development of the Program's Code of Conduct; a benchmarking study of national leadership programs; development and implementation of the LDHP Study Abroad Program; a funding initiative to improve the Center's ability to support student and Program development; and an alumni project to strengthen bonds between Program alumni, as valuable contributors and supporters of students though networking, mentoring, coaching and career opportunities, and the Program.

Service

Servant leadership is a hallmark of highly effective and great leaders. The Center for Leadership Development places strong emphasis in further developing this important value in its student leaders. All Leadership Development Honors Program members are required to complete 80 hours of community service during their four years in the Program.