PVCC Puma Press: April 2006

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	Student Audrey Hernandez takes the stage at the camp site food hall during the Emerging Leaders Level I weekend last spring.
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“Leadership is a process not a position”—this is the foundation on which the PVCC Emerging Leaders Program is based.

Offered to help students achieve personal success in college and after, Emerging Leaders teaches personal leadership and community involvement. The program, which launched in 1998 under the guidance of Dr. Paul Dale, dean of learning support services, has graduated 495 students. Any one who has completed one of three EL classes is considered a graduate.

After going through Emerging Leaders, students have become more engaged on campus and in the community, its proponants say.

"The difference in a student between pre- and post-E.L. is simply confidence,” says geography faculty, John Douglass. “Either working with their peers, preparing for assignments or exams, or in their interaction in class discussions, E.L. students stand out.”

Emerging Leaders has many long and short term benefits for students. The program is offered in three two-credit classes, which include camping and hiking. This nontraditional class setting allows students to interact with one another and communicate in a comfortable environment while discovering their leadership skills.

Elba Boe, former Student Leadership Council Chairperson and Emerging Leaders graduate, says that the program helped her learn more about herself and have confidence to build relationships with others. She adds that if she had not participated in Emerging Leaders, she would have never thought she was capable of leading the Student Leadership Council. For Boe the most rewarding part of the program was the life long friendships she built with her classmates.

Emerging Leaders classes offer three levels of achievement:

• Level one—Self awareness,

• Level two—Community involvement,

• Level three—Student facilitation.

Douglass stresses that “the number one benefit is broadening a student’s educational experience from degree-oriented classes. College diplomas are very common these days, but students trained in leadership are hard to come by and desperately wanted by private, public and government organizations.”

Mike Ho, student life and leadership program specialist, notes that reference to Emerging Leaders makes a candidate “stand out” above others on a résumé because it shows that the applicant is able to work in a team, lead a group and problem solve efficiently.

In short, Ho explains that the program is about “building confidence and competence.” This inclusive program takes individuals from where they are forward to position them for both personal and professional success. Emerging Leaders is open to all students and offered every semester.

The cost of each of the three EL classes is $180, which covers the two credits and an additional $50 course fee. There are scholarships available to cover the entire cost. For more information you can visit the Paradise Valley Student Life Center or on the web at www.pvc.maricopa.edu under the Student Life section.

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