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Purpose of the leadership initiative

The leadership initiative will provide opportunity for all Engineering and Technology students, staff and faculty to develop increased leadership capacity in order to more fully achieve the purposes of a BYU education, contribute to the building of the Kingdom, and fulfill their professional and personal missions.

Introduction

Leadership has been defined in ways within many different contexts. Thousands of books have been published on the topic and many theories have been developed that attempt to describe the principles and concepts of leadership. We will not attempt to survey or describe the variety of valid leadership models and theories that exist though we have studied many of them. Rather this document proposes a blueprint for the study and encouragement of leadership for the College of Engineering and Technology and a description of the primary elements on which leadership education and activities in the College will be based.

The pattern and description for leadership education is presented in three levels. First, a model that illustrates the three fundamental areas on which the leadership education in the college is based is described. Then a more detailed description of these areas is presented along with material (outlines, examples, activities, stories, short curricular interventions, etc.) that could be used by a faculty or staff in their classes, team projects, or other assignments and responsibilities. This description is in part an abridgement of the ENGT 231 curriculum and provides a resource for someone to present leadership topics or principles in less time and in a separate venue than a full class. Other items and materials will be included outside of those used in ENGT 231. Lastly, the curriculum for the ENGT 231 course, Moral Leadership in a Technological World, is described along with a brief overview of the books, articles and other material used in that course. Though not every faculty will be involved in the course, it would be well for all to know what is in the course and why it is of benefit for students to complete the course.

Our hope is that these three levels of description will provide ability for all in the college to understand the leadership initiative and have access to the material and resources appropriate to their interest and need.