The university will begin a new program in the fall to develop leadership among college students in order to prepare them for real-life leadership roles.
The university has designed the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program to recognize students with the leadership gene, MSU President Robert Foglesong said.
“We want to recognize leaders and students emerging into leadership roles,” Foglesong said.
The program will accept 20 sophomores and 10 juniors, which will be considered the Alpha class. These students, known as “fellows,” will participate in intense leadership training for the majority of the fall semester, Bill Kibler, vice president for student affairs, said.
“We will also select 20 freshmen in the spring of ’07,” Kibler said.
The intention is to take students who have already demonstrated leadership potential at MSU and give them opportunities to intensify these skills. During the spring semester, the fellows will attend lectures and seminars. These events will be open to the public as well.
Dean of students Mike White is excited for the fellows who will be selected for this program because it offers them an opportunity of a lifetime.
“The fellows that will be selected for this process will experience intense application,” White said.
The program will recognize students with leadership characteristics such as honor, courage, character and what White considers most important, integrity.
“These characteristics will be a primary mission of the program,” White said. “There will be a high expectation of the conduct of those fellows selected.”
White also said the university looks forward to the fall semester.
“We are very pleased and excited that this program is coming to Mississippi State University and look forward to participating,” White added.
The students will have a certain grade point average they must meet, and they will also have a leadership mentor, who will work closely with them in enhancing leadership dimensions.
“This could be someone from outside the university or someone that we select from inside the university,” Kibler said.
The application process should begin in September with hopes for beginning the program in October. Two other schools in West Virginia will begin the program in the fall, so three schools will participate in this program throughout Appalachia.
Foglesong said much is still in the works with the program, but an advisory committee will be working on the details.
“There will be a group of faculty and staff who sit down and select the Alpha class,” Foglesong said.
The next year, the students from the Alpha class will sit down with faculty and staff to pick students for the next year.
The students in the program will receive mentoring and lectures about leadership in our society, he said.
“We want to give them the chance to hear from leaders from all parts of our society,” Foglesong said.
MSU could also network with the other colleges utilizing this program, so if Senator Thad Cochran were to come speak on campus, MSU could telecast to other universities throughout Appalachia, Foglesong said.
The university also hopes to hire someone to serve, in essence, in the same capacity as a director of the program, but it has not yet been decided what this person’s official title will be, whether director of the program or something else.
The program will be housed in the dean of students’ office within the division of student affairs, Kibler said.
Not only will MSU provide a technical degree, but the university can enhance the character and leadership skills of its students.
“It could be leadership on the campus or leadership in the community. It may even be leadership on the football team,” he added.