Each year focuses on a different aspect of leadership: self, team, community and change, and leadership in a global society. However, the following requirements remain the same each year:
- Active engagement in monthly cohort-based workshops led by faculty, staff and community experts on specific topics
- Involvement in monthly, student-led, all-fellows community meetings
- Purposeful selection and participation in a student organization
- Monthly journals that ask participants to thoughtfully reflect upon the connection between what they are learning and what they are experiencing
Year One: Self
Leadership demands that one be continually self-aware. Mindfulness of one's thoughts and feelings, as well as knowledge of strengths and weaknesses gives leaders the foundation necessary to: enhance their relationships with individuals different from themselves, be open to multiple perspectives, create strong teams, and engage in critical and sustained reflection.
By the end of year one, students will be able to:
- Identify their own unique leadership strengths, weaknesses and styles
- Articulate their personal values and how these shape the practice of ethical leadership
- Reflect on the people and experiences that shaped their understanding of leadership, motivation to lead, and areas for personal growth
Other requirements for year one are:
- Regular one-on-one mentoring by a junior or senior Fellow
- Participate in a two-day retreat introducing the leadership philosophy of the program
- Individually completing eight hours of community service per semester to familiarize oneself with the Tampa community
Year Two: Team
The ability to develop a common purpose and work collaboratively with a diversity of people are important skills for today's global leaders. Year two focuses on applying the self-awareness learned in year one to team life and on developing the type of relationships that will ultimately enhance a group's capacity to solve the complex problems leaders face.
By the end of year two, students will be able to:
- Act ethically and enact their spoken values in a congruent manner in the context of group life
- Effectively collaborate with others
- Articulate the benefits and risks of group conflict, and engage in controversy with civility
- Begin to understand systems thinking
Other requirements for year two are:
- Participate in the Leadership Challenge Course (low ropes) as a team
- Regular one-on-one mentoring by a faculty or staff member at the University
- Completing eight hours of community service per semester as a team
Year Three: Community and Change
The effectiveness of one's leadership practice in organizations, community and world is often judged by the degree of positive social change achieved. Now that participants have developed a high degree of self-awareness and skill in working in a team – the team will have the chance to create the kind of lasting change needed in our communities.
By the end of year three, students will be able to:
- Work with others to integrate information about community concerns
- Apply systems thinking and knowledge on facilitating change to real-world issues
- Demonstrate commitment to acting as an ethical and responsibly engaged citizen
Other requirements for year three are:
- Engage in a substantial community change project as a cohort
Year Four: Global Leadership
Just as the leadership culture is different for different types of organizations, it also varies on a global level based on the history, norms, and values of a particular culture. Therefore, the focus in year four is two-fold. The first is to examine how leadership is practiced in one's chosen professional field by engaging with a mentor who works in the type of organization the fellow would like to. Concurrently, participants will learn about the relationship between societal culture and organizational leadership in other countries. This will increase one's ability to understand varying organizational and cultural contexts and adjust their leadership style and decisions according to the norms, values, and issues of a particular organization and/or culture.
By the end of year four, students will be able to:
- Understand the leadership culture and practices in their chosen profession
- Modify their leadership practices for success in diverse contexts/cultures
- Develop leadership in others
Other requirements for year four are:
- Participate in UT's annual Etiquette Dinner
- Regular one-on-one mentoring by a professional in one's chosen field
- Build on the community and change project completed in year three by examining the global implications/influences on their chosen issue and crafting an innovative educational program for our campus
- Mentoring a freshman Fellow