LEADERSHIP DISCOVERY PROGRAM
About the Program

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."    - attributed to Margaret Mead, American Cultural Anthropologist.

Application Deadline:  February 22, 2009 at midnight

Application link:    http://www.dartmouth.edu/~opal/leadership/application.html

For First Year Students

Now in its nineteenth year, the Leadership Discovery Program (LDP) educates and prepares Dartmouth students to become effective leaders and group members.  The Leadership Discovery Program focuses on helping students to explore relationship-centered, ethical leadership. The program is open to a maximum of 36 members of the Class of '12.  Participants are selected on the basis of submitted essays.  The 6 sessions are held during spring term and are led by faculty members, administrators and undergraduates. Attendance at all sessions is mandatory.

Program Goals

Through participation in LDP, students will be able to:

• Define leadership.
• Describe their leadership style and how it affects others.
• Identify the behaviors and roles that they and others exhibit in a group.
• Articulate how privilege, oppression, power and identity influence a group process.
• Receive and give feedback in a constructive way.
• Define the personal values that influence their decision-making.
• Identify when and why their actions are inconsistent with their values.
• Understand the relationship between ethics and leadership.
• Apply a step-by-step process to ethical decision-making.
• Identify key leadership positions, processes and stakeholders in Dartmouth's administrative and faculty structure.

Remarks from previous classes

"I hope the next class will be able to have the experience we have had. It was a great way to start the four years at Dartmouth off right."  "I thought the program was excellent. It made me do some thinking about the way I perceive myself and my role in a group."  "I would definitely recommend this program to future classes.  It was a worthwhile learning experience in which I got to know many people that I would not have otherwise gotten to know."

Questions about the program

Contact any member of the Planning Committee via blitz: Leigh Remy, Dean of the College Office; Steve Silver, International Student Programs (OPAL); Sylvia Spears, OPAL; Brian Dye, Student Activities; Gabrielle Lucke, Student Activities; Xenia Markowitt, Center for Women and Gender; Minnie Slater, OPAL; Elaine Lee, OPAL; and Lauren Reiser '10, Winter Term Leadership Intern, and Diana Dinescu '09, Spring Term Leadership Intern and former participant.

• 2009 Program Schedule

If you wish to participate

We are looking for students invested in learning more about leadership, a willingness to reflect on and engage in the issues presented, and an interest in exploring the ethical dimensions of leadership.  Students will be expected to participate in every session and to complete assigned readings.  Previous participants have found that keeping a journal is also helpful.  Please complete the on-line application by February 22nd if you would like to be considered for the program.  If you prefer to submit a written application, you may return it to Minnie Slater, Collis 211 (HB 6217).  If you would like to be notified of your status over spring break, please provide an address where we might contact you; otherwise notification of acceptance will be waiting in your HB when you return.