Leadership, Education, Application, Discovery. These are the four principles of UTM’s newest student project: LEAD Academy.

LEAD Academy is run through the Office of Student Affairs and is open to any UTM student.

It is a “comprehensive leadership education and development program,” that intends to better equip UTM students as they go past graduation into the working world.

There will be an informative meeting for anyone interested on Tuesday, September 18 at 7 p.m.

LEAD is separated into three levels.

The first is made up of workshops and experiences meant to give students certain leadership and management skills.

Workshops being offered in the spring include: What is Leadership?, Leadership Values and Ethics, Effective Communication, Goal Setting, Making Effective Presentations, Meeting Management, Decision Making and Leadership Styles with other topics to be covered in the future.

Through these workshops students put together a leadership portfolio of what they have done. The sessions are planned for evenings and Saturdays with the promise of being “informative, interactive, stimulating and fun.”

Students then progress to Level Two, which involves active participation in the campus and community through positions in campus/community clubs and organizations. Those in Level Two serve as mentors to students in Level One.

Level Three students are given a variety of opportunities and priviledges, such as alternative spring break, tutoring corps, service learning, Big Switch programs, travel/study programs and many other things.

Level Three students monitor those in Levels One and Two while finishing their leadership portfolio.

Everyone in LEAD Academy is paired with a faculty/staff mentor, who will help in choosing leadership opportunities and assess progress and give help.