Beacon Leadership Project Is Shaping Student Leaders
University Communications
University Reporter
|
|
Dirk Messelaar Appointed Dean of Newly-Reconfigured Division |
|
|
|
 |
Tribute Luncheon Celebrates Polly Logan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arts on the Point Moving Ahead |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Melissa Fassel
UMass Boston continues to develop programs to enhance its students' experience, one of the latest being the Beacon Leadership Project (BLP): Leaders at the Point, whose mission is to provide students with credit- or competency-based opportunities to develop and enhance their leadership skills and potential.
Approximately 25 students are selected to participate in the BLP, a yearlong program at the university. All undergraduate students who hold a GPA of 2.5 or higher, and have completed at least 24 credits (or 10 competencies for CPCS) are sent invitations to apply. Faculty are also invited to nominate students, and graduate students may apply at any time during their studies at UMass Boston.
A selection committee composed of members of the BLP advisory board chooses the 25 students who will participate in the program. The 2000 - 2001 committee includes: Sarah Bartlett, Diane D'Arrigo, Frances Hall, Adrian Haugabrook (chair), Christopher Hogan, Joyce Morgan, Donna Neal, Daniel Robb, Jain Rudivich-Higgins, Sabrina Tarulli-Hughes, and Elaine Ward.
During their leadership study, undergraduate and graduate candidates attend weekly seminars and maintain portfolios complete with journals, reflection papers, and assignments. At the end of the second semester, students give presentations on their service learning/community action projects, in which they apply what they have previously learned or experienced to a new environment. These projects, which also produce a service for a designated community, include events like Good Neighbor Day, an annual day of service that UMass Boston provides to the community. Past Good Neighbor Day activities have included serving at local food pantries, aesthetic cleaning-up (painting, laying new sand at playgrounds, etc.), visiting local day care centers, and tutoring.
The BLP is committed to serving UMass Boston's urban community by fostering an integrative and collaborative learning experience and drawing upon students' prior leadership, learning, and community service experiences. It aims to provide a shared ethos for continuous student learning and development, collaborative approaches to facilitate student success, and a focus on leadership for social change and service learning.
The Beacon Leadership Project is administered through the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs with support from the Office of Student Life. For more information, visit the BLP on the web at http://www.umb.edu/umb/leadership.