CALS Leadership Programs Updates
2015 in Review…A Launch Year!
2015 has been a year of development and growth for leadership programs and initiatives in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Beginning in 2014 with a CALS leadership inventory that identified over 20 existing programs or initiatives in the College and a Leadership Champions Summit that had over 100 internal and external stakeholders developing a CALS leadership strategy, 2015 turned out to be a “launch year” for moving CALS leadership initiatives forward.
New Program Highlights and Initiatives for 2015 include:
1. WARREN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM (WLP)
• WLP is an undergraduate leadership and public policy program in CALS. The yearlong program (January – December) exposes a cohort of undergraduate students in their junior to senior year
to leadership, food/agricultural system and public policy. This program is designed to prepare future food/agricultural public leaders influencers and includes seminars, travel experiences and summer internships. This program is funded through the generosity of Joe and Gail Dunn as a gift to the NC Agricultural Foundation and operated through the CALS Dean’s office. For more information on this program, go to: http://warrenleadership.com
2. CALS PROUD
• CALS PROUD is the College’s signature program for college-wide internal leadership programs. CALS PROUD, Staff Level 1, focuses on personal leadership and understanding personal impact/connectivity in the overall College strategic plan and on development of skills to increase employee satisfaction and performance. This program is funded by the CALS Dean’s office and coordinated through the CALS Human Resources office. Two sessions were held in 2015 with over 120 CALS staff participating. The plan is to offer this one-day seminar one time per year.
3. CALS CHAMPIONS NEWSLETTER
• First released on September 2, 2015, this is an electronic newsletter (four issues per year) for internal and external stakeholders that have a passion and desire to grow as leaders and to support leadership initiatives of the College. It is used to communicate leadership content and updates targeted to the CALS Leadership Champions on a quarterly basis. There are currently approximately 200 individuals receiving this newsletter with plans to continue its expansion in the future. If you know of individuals that you believe would like to receive this newsletter, please send their contact information to Carol Reilly at carol_reilly@ncsu.edu.
2015 was also a year for building a foundation for future program growth and development. In 2016, the following programs will be unveiled:
1. CALS PROUD – FACULTY
• CALS PROUD – FACULTY – NEW FACULTY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT – This faculty leadership development program focuses on the first year of a faculty member’s experience in the 
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with various experiences including, but not limited to, RPT 101, Dean’s New Faculty Bus Tour and Mini-Leadership Sessions. This program will kick off in the fall of 2016 and is being co-chaired and directed by Dr. Ken Esbenshade and Dr. Tom Monaco.
2. CALS PROUD – STAFF (LEVEL 2)
• CALS PROUD, Staff Level 2, focuses on those staff members that have participated in CALS PROUD Level 1. The content of Level 2 is focused on issues including, but not limited to, work/life balance, time management, teambuilding and conflict management. This program is funded by the CALS Dean’s office and coordinated through the CALS HR office. This program will start in late spring 2016.
3. CALS/NCFB PUBLIC LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
• CALS/NCFB PUBLIC LEADERSHIP PROGRAM is a partnership between the College and North Carolina Farm Bureau and highlighted in an earlier article in this newsletter. This program focuses on encouraging and equipping stakeholders with the skills they need for engagement in public service leadership. In some cases, this may lead to elected or appointed office at the local, state or federal levels. This program is co-managed by NCFB and NC State University CALS Dean’s office. For more information on this program, contact Curtis Hayes at curtis.hayes@ncfb.org
4. CALS WRN LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE
• The 2015 recipients of the William Neal Reynolds Professorships will be provided a leadership development program customized to increase their impact and influence in the College. Conducted in partnership with the General Hugh Shelton Leadership Center, this initiative is funded by the WNR Endowment and coordinated by Dr. Rebecca Boston in the CALS Research Office.
5. HELMS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
• In 2005, CALS conducted a tribute dinner to honor the public service of Senator Jesse Helms. The funds raised through this dinner were to set up an endowment to support an internship experiences for CALS (NC State) or SAES (NC A&T) students in Washington, DC. These funds have now accumulated to a level that will enable the program to have two interns in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 2016 in the offices of one North Carolina Congressman and one US Senator.
It is important to remember that these initiatives are outcomes from the College’s strategic plan, Our Envisioned Future and are based on the input and feedback received from internal and external stakeholders. It is also important to remember that these programs stand alongside two other College-wide signature leadership programs, The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Leadership Program (https://calsleadership.ces.ncsu.edu/) and Food Systems Leadership Institute (www.fsli.org).
As readers of this newsletter, you are encouraged to share any ideas or suggestions you have for growing the College’s leadership initiatives by sending them to Marshall Stewart at marshall_stewart@ncsu.edu or Carol Reilly at carol_reilly@ncsu.edu.
