Monday, November 5, 2007 - 3:15 PM
32-6

Discovering and Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders.

Kelly Delp, Sherry Fulk-Bringman, Craig Beyrouty, and George Van Scoyoc. 915 W. State St., Purdue University-Agronomy Dept., Purdue University, Agronomy Department, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054

Employers often recommend that curricula in Agriculture include opportunities for students to develop their leadership skills. Typically, students learn leadership on the job as club officers, with little formal training. This approach rarely offers formal guidance and mentoring to students to learn effective leadership techniques and to develop individualized leadership styles. Two new programs in Agriculture at Purdue have been designed to provide substantive leadership mentoring and experiences to students. In the College of Agriculture, a leadership certification program has been designed to guide students in developing personal leadership plans, to reflect on their individual leadership styles, and to participate in courses and activities that improve their leadership skills. At the departmental level, we recently developed an Agronomy Ambassadors program to select and mentor students with leadership potential. Ambassadors participate in an extensive orientation program to effectively communicate to visitors and VIPs about Departmental and university programs. The structure of the College and Departmental programs will be discussed.