Leadership program to be unveiled soon

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by Anita Raman

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Camacho's intention is to expand the Rice education to encompass communication, service and leadership skills into a program with national recognition.

Though still in the conceptual stage, Leadership Rice will teach students about the nonacademic world and, through education, create highly-skilled, well-rounded individuals to contribute to society in the letters, science and arts.

In the current proposal, the program will identify candidates for the program at the end of their freshman year. However, there will also be a staggered entry process to identify those not selected in their freshman year, as well as upperclassmen and transfer students.

Involved in the selection process will be a selection committee of upperclassmen and the college associates.

During the sophomore year, participants would be trained in the basics of leadership for a full year in a for-credit academic course. Students would propose community service projects involving their colleges and funding and implementation proposals.

Also connected to the project would be the student's mentor, a corporate or community leader with interest in and knowledge of the student's proposal.

In the summer between their sophomore and junior years, students would experience their first hands-on community service program. Following a one-week, training-intensive leadership camp on campus, students would participate in a local, national or international service-oriented internship coordinated by their mentors.

Camacho was definite on the subjects of the type of training students would receive and the nature of the internships. The emphasis of the coursework, according to Camacho, would be on "discussions on ethics, values and the fundamental issues of what it is we are here to do" and an internship that "would serve not as a career stepping stone but would benefit the community at large."

The project would continue in the students' junior year through additional coursework and the opportunity to enact the individual service projects during the fall semester.

The focus of the junior year program would be to implement the critical thinking process and to find the means to address issues of wide scale social significance. In the spring term, students would assess the progress of the projects and their overall success.

The summer prior to the senior year would once again involve a leadership training camp and a service project internship.

The training would prepare students for their senior year project, in which each college's eight representatives would collaborate on a college service project oriented toward the local community through organizations such as Habitat For Humanity or the Houston Independent School District.

This project would bring together all of the prior training and social interaction skills, preparing the seniors for the job market and contribution to society.

Camacho's ultimate goal in the creation of this program is to benefit the university and the student by creating the drive and ability to better serve the community.

He envisioned for the future, "in 10 or 20 years, for Rice to be seen by the people in this country and the world as the place to go to if you want to make a difference on a major scale so the future leaders of our country would be coming to Rice."

This item appeared in the News section of the September 22, 1995 issue.

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