Ready for another round of open-minded thinkers, UT will host the second campus-based session of the LeaderShape® Institute, which will take place May 11-16.
   
 Participant applications opened Feb. 1 and will remain available until Feb. 24. The program will accept 60 student leaders representing diverse facets of the student body.
    
For over 30 years, the LeaderShape® Institute has encouraged thousands of participants to get out of their comfort zone and create change among their peers. The program strongly promotes the importance of leading with integrity, and having a healthy disregard for the impossible.
    
“The week is intended to produce a breakthrough in the leadership capacity of participants — benefiting them individually, as well as their respective communities and the organizations they will go on to lead and serve in the future,” Sally Parish, assistant director of Student Orientation and Leadership Development, said.
    
Parish serves as the program coordinator for UT’s session of LeaderShape® and worked closely with the administrative tasks of making the program happen. UT started hosting the program because the students and faculty saw LeaderShape® as a unique, once-in-a-lifetime leadership opportunity that would make a huge impact on students, campus and community.
    
While at the LeaderShape® Institute, participants will learn how to create goals and build teams, among other activities. Through the week students work in teams called “Family Clusters” to form supportive relationships. The goal is for participants to gain insights that will serve them both personally and professionally for years to come.
    
“LeaderShape® is not like any other leadership program,” said Courtney Vick, senior in journalism and electronic media and 2011 LeaderShape® participant. “The activities we participated in were innovative and educational to participants.”
    
Vick knew that the program would be a good way for her to better understand leadership. She applied hoping to grow as a leader, and said she gained much more.
    
“Creating visions and having like-minded individuals there to show me support was really memorable,” Vick said. “I am now more understanding and perceptive of others’ leadership styles.”
    
The LeaderShape® Institute, now in its 26th year, has impacted more than 40,000 young men and women all over the world. Though only in its second year, Parish believes the impact from LeaderShape® can be seen.
    
“There is an established group of student leaders on campus who are united in their dedication to living and leading with integrity,” Parish said. “It is hard to think of a greater impact than that.”
    
Since last May, a larger and more diverse pool of student leaders has become involved in leadership rolls all over campus.
    
“I feel that the impact reaches hundreds, if not thousands of students, across campus,” Parish said. “The 2011 LeaderShape® alumni serve as an inspiration to me, and I am grateful for their dedication to living and leading with integrity. I believe that they truly make our campus a better place.”
   
 A final information session for LeaderShape® will be Feb. 20 in Panhellenic at 5 p.m. Students can visit sold.utk.edu/leadershape for applications and information on how to schedule an interview.