The University of Colorado Boulder is sharpening its focus on leadership, offering a thriving minor, a speaker series launching next month with a visit by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and new courses aimed at fostering leadership in students with a diverse array of backgrounds and career paths.
CU Boulder in 2014 launched a new designed to reach across all colleges, complement any academic major and be open to any undergraduate. Today nearly 400 students 鈥� from artists and dancers to physicists and future physicians 鈥� are pursuing it. To manage the rapid growth of the program, now housed in the School of Education, CU Boulder recently hired a new program director and is adding course sections to keep class sizes small.
Today鈥檚 effective leaders are 鈥渓ess hero鈥� and 鈥渕ore host,鈥� less 鈥渁ll-powerful knower and manager鈥� and more 鈥渇acilitator who is attentive to people鈥檚 needs and recognizes leadership as a process of shared visioning,鈥� said Kira Pasquesi, program director and an instructor for the leadership minor.
Courses for the 16-credit minor cover everything from leadership theory to the exploration of benevolent and toxic governmental leaders across the globe and throughout history and the value of good writing in affecting change. Students also put their leadership lessons to work via partnerships with community organizations.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to serve in a leadership position specifically to be a leader, but you do need to believe that you can affect change,鈥� says Lakshmi Karamsetti, pictured,聽senior聽majoring聽in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology and minoring聽in leadership studies.
Learn more about the Leadership Studies Minor and the speaker series, beginning聽Wednesday, Jan. 25 with Secretary Gates, in .听