Advanced leadership course grows students' skills

Students in Rose Procter's advanced leadership course in the Mike Cottrell College of Business this spring gained a wide array of skills to prepare them for their careers. The course is aimed at students in their final semester before entering the workforce. They had one-on-one calls with business leaders, made a group presentation to a mock board of directors, interviewed high school students and confronted their fears.

Procter, director of UNG's BB&T Center for Ethical Leadership, said the class fits perfectly with the University of North Georgia's (UNG) designation as a State Leadership Institution. And future employers will reap the benefits. 

"We want to submerge students in experiences so they can practice these skills now, not on the job," Procter said. "Employers want to hire people who have developed their character, have the necessary knowledge and who have experienced business situations at their university so they have that experience to rely on."

Emily Hill, who earned a degree in management in May, spoke with Mike Hennessy, who founded the Apex Group at UBS Wealth Management. He shared with her the importance of leading and making important decisions in a timely manner.

Hill was grateful for the diversity of experiences in her final semester at UNG. The mock board presentation, which provided constructive feedback from high-level professionals around the real-world challenges of social media, was especially valuable.

In addition to the more directly business-oriented tasks, Procter mixed in other days that built students' skills. One was focused on overcoming fears in leadership, better known by the students as "fear wall," a day of rock climbing at UNG's Pine Valley Recreation Complex. In another activity, students had to work on effective communication, building something together only based on the student's vision and ability to communicate that to peers, like leaders projecting their vision in a project or a business.

"These creative activities helped us branch out and think differently," Hill said.

2nd Lt. Alex Fernandez, a Midway, Georgia, native who graduated in May with a degree in management, spoke with Col. Michelle Donahue, quartermaster commandant for the U.S. Army Quartermaster School based at Fort Lee, Virginia. She took over the position in May 2020 and has more than 24 years of service. Fernandez commissioned into the Army's quartermaster branch in May 2021.

"I wanted to get some knowledge from someone who's the top leader in my field and understand what made her so successful being a quartermaster officer," Fernandez said.

Katie Dunn, a Suwanee, Georgia, native who earned a degree in marketing in May, interviewed entrepreneur Kristy Gayton. She founded STARTplanner, a business that creates planner notebooks that focus users on goals, finances and health. Dunn was impressed by Gayton's passion and focus on routine in forging success. The advanced leadership course was one of the highlights of her final semester at UNG.

"Having this class made my semester feel normal," Dunn said.

Procter was grateful students responded to the format.

"This class is that transition from students being a thermometer, where they read the culture and temperature of the room they are in, to being a thermostat," Procter said. "They start setting the temperature either intentionally or unintentionally through their own leadership. They start to have influence after graduation, and we want them to be leaders worth following, who have the knowledge, experience and character to build strong careers and communities."