Leadership - Office of the Provost

2011-2012 Highlights

From January 16 to February 7, USC is holding its 2012 Leadership Summit, a series of events focused on leadership, service, and civic engagement.
USC's Capstone Scholars Program is offering a unique UNIV290L course on leadership during Spring 2012. Students will have the opportunity to learn about leadership concepts and to shadow leaders at the university and in the Columbia community.
More than twelve students, faculty, and staff members from USC are participating in the Liberty Fellowship Summit 2011 to explore ways to lead the state of South Carolina toward better education, healthcare, economic development, and environmental health.
Five students from USC will be attending the South Carolina Leadership Forum on Faith and Values in January 2012.
USC's Office of Leadership Programs is offering a number of exciting opportunities during Spring 2012. These include a one-day leadership program offered by LeaderShape on January 21, a six-week certificate program called LEAP, and the annual Student Leadership and Diversity Conference in February.
USC’s ODK Leadership Honor Society worked with Preston College and the Carolina Leadership Initiative to invite Columbia Mayor and USC alumnus Steve Benjamin to speak with students about leadership and community engagement on Monday, October 24, 7pm, in the Program Room of the Hollings Library.
Seven Cadets from the University of South Carolina’s Army ROTC Battalion have earned the distinction of being designated a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) by the United States Army Cadet Command. In order to receive this distinction, Cadets must rank within the top 20% of all Senior Cadets in colleges and universities throughout the country. In addition to their national ranking, a DMG must possess outstanding qualities of military leadership, high moral character, an aptitude for military service, and an excellent academic record. This year, within the state of South Carolina, only The Citadel has more DMGs in their graduating class than USC’s Army ROTC program.
The Leadership Initiative is proud of its Leadership Scholars for the attention that they're receiving for their work. Scholar Erin Fedewa has received the support of the USC Athletics Department to organize a carbon-neutral athletic event during the 2011-2012 school year.
USC is continuing to develop leadership skills among hundreds of students through its Peer Leader programs. These include students who serve as University Ambassadors, Resident Mentors, U101 Peer Leaders, Study Abroad Peer Advisors, and Orientation Leaders.
We encourage students interested in leadership to attend the Skill Builders Leadership Workshops being held throughout this school year here at USC. These workshops address issues such as motivating group members, engaging in effective communication, and planning successful events.
During the 2011-2012 school year, USC will be participating in the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, a major national study that has collected the single largest data set documenting student leadership development in higher education. The data from the study will help the Carolina Leadership Initiative to identify activities that have the most impact on student leadership development.
Thanks to a faculty development grant from the Leadership Initiative and the Center for Teaching Excellence, political science faculty member Kirk Randazzo is developing an exciting course for spring 2012. Titled POLI 391L, “The Politics of Leadership,” the course will include visits from influential community leaders as well as a spring break trip to Washington, DC.
The USC Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) has launched for Fall 2011! ELP is an eight-week certification program that provides USC students with the tools they need to become effective student leaders.
The Capstone Scholars Program continues to be very active with leadership-development activities. A group of Capstone freshmen is developing a new leadership society on campus, and a Capstone Scholars Inaugural Leadership Week was held from Sept. 12-16.
USC’s TRIO Programs continue to do a wonderful job of developing leaders from among students who are first-generation college students. In particular, TRIO’s Ronald McNair Scholars program is helping to launch many of these students into graduate school.
This year, the Green Quad is exploring “Green Leadership” models and developing the leadership skills of its interns with the help of two grants from the Carolina Leadership Initiative: one for faculty principal David Whiteman and one for Leadership Scholar Sam Johnson.