COMPETENCY
Practical knowledge and cognitive skills acquired through learning contribute to success in the workplace, graduate school, and lifelong experiences. But which sets of knowledge and core competencies prepare us best for the many jobs and areas of social responsibility that are innovating rapidly, or that do not yet exist? Competence is a slippery concept. It involves the ability to speak and understand language in diverse fields, organizations, and communities. It involves possessing the mental and physical capacities to participate, including knowing standardized requirements for specific employment. Being "well qualified" requires a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, cognitive skills and capacities, social characteristics, and habits and values.
What Does It Mean to be "Well Qualified"?
Grace Gordon
Practical knowledge and cognitive skills acquired through learning contribute to success in the workplace, graduate school, and life. But which sets of knowledge and core competencies prepare us best for the many jobs and areas of social responsibility that are innovating rapidly, or that do not yet exist? Competence is a slippery concept. It involves the ability to speak and understand language in diverse fields, organizations, and communities. It involves possessing the mental and physical capacities to participate, including knowing standardized requirements for specific employment. Being "well qualified" requires a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, cognitive skills and capacities, social characteristics, and habits and values.
Facts about the past do not speak for themselves. It takes the work of an historian to understand the relationship, causes, and outcomes of facts of the past in order to really understand what happened in history. The study of history is not a discipline that can be memorized and then understood in full. There is much to history that we still do not know, and some of what we claim about history is merely speculation based on other facts we know. It is a discipline that is subject to growth; it is not all set in stone as many think. Some of the things we claim to know as “facts” now may later be proven wrong. We learn new things about the past because of a variety of factors. The advancement of scientific techniques is one factor that can change our modern understanding of the past.
To be an historian, you must be curious. You need to want to ask questions about the past that there may not be any answer to. These questions may just lead to new discoveries. The study of history is like studying a mysterious foreign world that you are glimpsing and trying to understand its inner workings. I came to understand history as much more than memorizing facts throughout my research on eugenics in Virginia for a history paper.
I am driven to continue my research on eugenics by my own curiosity. The fact that I could unearth something that was hidden, wrongly remembered, or forgotten about is compelling to me. I continue to extensively research eugenics for my capstone project and learn more every day. However I constantly hit walls and have to readjust my focus. Every day, I am reminded that research is difficult. I have to be flexible and patient with what kind of info is available and what is not. Through my research I feel like I am learning a lot about what is possible in world of the historian, and I am definitely improving on my researching skills and knowledge. This will be invaluable in the workplace as a historian.
My research on eugenics has been largely self-driven and I am proud of that. It is a topic that I am deeply fascinated with. I have been trying to take advantage of every resource that is offered to me that can help in any manner. I have emailed, called, and met with dozens of teachers, national preservation employees, and Library of Virginia employees to get professional advice and opinions on what it is that I am focusing on. I know I have to be on top of this project myself or it will just not get done. My Independent Scholars major is helping me shape the capstone project and giving me all of the necessary skills I require to create a supplementary interactive digital source that goes along with my paper.
Why Speech and Language Pathologists Are Uniquely Qualified to Help Children with Memory Issues
Karsen Hudson
A person’s memory is an important asset used every day in their lives. When it comes to being a student in school, children must use their memory to recall information they have learned in their classes to help them through homework assignments and prepare them for future quizzes and tests. For this type of recall, a child’s brain is using its “working memory.” Working memory is a type of memory that everyone is equipped with, it helps students hear, interpret, and understand the information that is being taught to them, and then use it to complete the task.
To help improve a child’s memory skills, speech language pathologists (SLPs) use a variety of different memorization techniques such as word and sentence recall, repetition, and visualization. Word and sentence recall entails remembering and repeating words and/or sentences to children in a specific order. Repetition is exactly what it sounds like— repeating information multiple times to help it ‘sink’ into the child’s memory. Lastly, visualization is about having a child create mental pictures that might help them remember the information they have learned.
When a child has poor memory, their language skills may suffer because they do not exercise their memory “muscle” properly. Learning new speech and language skills can also pose a significant challenge for the child as their brain struggles to retain the things they have previously learned. Parents should know that working with their child to improve memory will also aid in improving speech skills; it is important for parents to encourage their children to speak efficiently and confidently.
Speech language pathologists utilize many types of remediative techniques in their field that qualify them to work with clients in building memory skills, many of which consist of communicative skills. It is crucial for SLPs to have good listening skills so they can better understand the child’s needs. SLPs should also employ critical thinking skills when working with clients to assess data and craft treatment strategies to improve the client’s memory. SLPs collaborate with other SLPs to discuss and address extreme cases and to consider alternative techniques to help the client through any speech, language, and memory challenges that they might face throughout their experience on the path of improving their learning skills.
Engaging in the services of a qualified speech and language pathologist, for a child struggling with their memory skills, is beneficial for the child. Strengthening a child’s memory muscle is important for the child’s future success. Memorization skills can help increase a child’s speech fluency, which helps the child along their path to success in their educational journey, leading them to be more confident in themselves and their speech.
Encouraging Chinese Learning in the Younger Generation
Meghan Weaver
The Chinese language is becoming heavily prevalent over time. Not only does China’s economic power continue to grow, but the United States works with them frequently in business and political situations. It is for these reasons that the US should endeavor to create interest and opportunities to learn Chinese, starting with younger generations.
Increasing the population of children who learn Chinese will contribute to the future of our country. Fostering an interest among young people encourages continued learning and allows for complex skills as they grow in age and maturity. Younger children are more adaptable, and have less difficulty learning new languages than adults do. Encouraging adults to learn a completely new language can often be an effort in futility; however, children are curious, and have few preconceived notions of what they are capable of. This could lead to a greater chance they will adhere to the language and continue to develop their abilities.
The amount of Chinese speakers in the US versus the demand is another topic of importance in acknowledging the relevance of learning Mandarin. Part of the existing issue is the ample availability of job positions of Mandarin speakers in the US, and the lack of qualified individuals to fill the positions. In regards to Mandarin speakers in the US, a study by the Census Bureau suggested that about 5% of Americans spoke Mandarin in 2019, many of those speakers being Chinese themselves. In comparison, a Statista study indicates that as of 2023, Chinese is the second most commonly spoken language worldwide, with an estimated 1.35 billion speakers. This demonstrates how lacking the US is with our availability of Chinese speakers in correlation with the rest of the world.
The demand for Chinese is another aspect of the issue that drives the requirement to learn in our country. World leaders are slowly coming to the realization that China, with its growing economic, social, and political clout, is becoming increasingly relevant from a global standpoint. Due to this, it is being widely acknowledged that the U.S. and many other countries should impart the urgency of learning the Chinese language to young people. Not only that, but the US Department of Labor noted a 42% increase in demand for translators, and that number is only continuing to grow. Another study indicated that 9 of 10 employers rely on employees who are bilingual. There is a clear existing demand here, but the availability of Chinese speakers in our country isn’t meeting that urgency.
From the information provided in this paper, it is apparent how much Chinese is needed in our country, especially considering the anticipated increase in demand for the future. To begin to resolve the variance between the availability and demand, we must begin encouraging interest in the younger generations. This will set the stage for a vast increase in Chinese speakers in our country in the future, allowing us to fill the existing roles only suitable to those proficient in Chinese.
Every Journey Begins with the First Jump
Jaeda Cohen
“Judges ready? Jumpers ready? Set . . . BEEP!”
This announcement is of no significance to most people, but I have heard it countless times at jump rope competitions. These words come with a mudslide of emotions for me; my palms sweat and my heart races uncontrollably. The warm arena lights shine down on me. The stiffness of the floor pushes up against my bright, white shoes. I tune out the roar of the crowd. “You’ve got this, breathe, relax your shoulders, show everyone what you’ve trained for.”
My jump rope journey began when I was seven years old. I was passing a skeptical eye over a camp guidebook, and “Kangaroo Kids Jump Rope Camp!” I was hooked. I learned routines and the language of jump rope during my first few years. I began to jump competitively in middle school, practiced four to five days a week, and traveled to events across Maryland. I then graduated to national competitions. A few summers ago, I competed in the world jump rope championship in Norway and met amazing people from across the world.
Two of my goals were to become a jump role coach and become one of the team captains. I achieved the first goal when I began to coach classes for younger jumpers. I achieved the other goal during junior year when I was named a team captain. In college, I have continued my passion by practicing my skills and routines in my free time as well as working on teaching a class.
Participating in such an unusual sport has helped me become more resilient. I received many sarcastic remarks about jump rope in school and even got bullied. This was difficult to hear and took a toll on my self-esteem. Throughout middle school I was terrified to go out wearing a jump rope shirt. I would bring a change of clothes to practice and competitions to hide my jump rope identity from the uninitiated. Over time I learned to take pride in my unique passion. I now enjoy taking pictures of myself jumping wherever my travels take me. I have been able to apply these capacities for resilience, confidence, and passion to my Independent Scholar’s journey. Having the confidence to explain and defend my social media influencing has also stemmed from my completive jump rope career.
Remember, every journey begins with the first jump!
Getting Ahead in the Music Industry as a Student
Shukrana Shukrullah
Did you know you can upload a song on Spotify for free? Most people who upload original music on such platforms including Apple Music and Amazon Music will often go through other third-party distributors and pay subscriptions or fixed amounts for each song they release. However, the independent label and music distributor, Amuse, offers artists and bands free distribution of their songs to these platforms and more. So, why would people pay for something they can get for free?
Simple. They don’t know about it.
Just the other day, in one of my music industry classes of over 100 students, my professor asked if anyone had uploaded their music on any of these platforms. There were several students who had done so, but when he asked if anyone had submitted their music through Amuse, nobody answered. All those people who had uploaded their music had paid for each song. When my professor asked students why they didn’t use Amuse, they merely answered that they hadn’t known about it.
This is the first course students who are interested in the music industry register for, whether they are Music Industry majors, minors, or pursuing elective credit. Whatever it may be, their passion to learn more about music led them to this first class. A lot of these students are not Music Industry majors because the program is mostly geared towards studying classical music performance. Alternatively, many students major in business and minor in Music Industry, but by the time they take this basic class, they are further into their college career but not so much in their musical careers. This is why students will make simple mistakes they could have avoided if they had been educated about it earlier.
I created a curriculum that enables me to take these classes sooner in college and become a more informed individual, ready to take internships and accept other challenging opportunities that involve myself in the music industry well before graduation. At the same time, I am better prepared to avoid such easy mistakes.
Most people view an artist as just that: someone who creates art. And ultimately, this is what most artists will do full-time. But there is a lot that must happen before an artist reaches the part of their career where making art is the only thing they focus on. Before an artist can get a manager, they have to be their own manager, handling production, promotion, and even contracts on their own. But if all you’ve ever done is play the guitar, how can you perform all these tasks by yourself? My major is making me ready to answer that question.
Competency in the Medical Field
Kaitlyn Gentille
I grew up in a middle-class, Caucasian family. I didn't see outside of the protective bubble called Northern Virginia for quite some time. It wasn’t until I reached high school that I started to recognize the disparities and inequalities present in my community. I quickly began to appreciate my own circumstances. My major focuses on sociological intersectionality. It will enable me to enter the medical field with a greater perspective of others. I am exposing myself to coursework that will expand my ability to empathize and communicate with individuals and communities who may come from a different background as myself, as well as broaden my perspective when it comes to the interconnectedness of everyday social systems that impact the medical field.
By combining my sociological and humanistic interests, from socioeconomic status, to diversity issues, to religion, ethnicity, culture — and all the other important components that makes us different — to broadening my perspective and improving my understanding of others will enable me to be an even more open-minded individual when I enter medical practice. Research suggests that “cultural competence may improve physician-patient communication and collaboration, increase patient satisfaction, and enhance adherence, thereby improving clinical outcomes and reducing health disparities” (Kripalani). I believe that entering the medical field with an increased ability to empathize, communicate, appreciate, and understand my patients with compassion and respect, despite not being able to relate to their exact experiences, will allow me to become a much more competent doctor and improve my relationships with others as a whole.
The healthcare field serves a very diversified population. From different ages, gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and even citizenship status, there are a variety of needs that must be addressed. In the medical field, cultural competency is viewed as “one strategy to ensure equal access to healthcare across diverse groups and to ensure that patients receive care by their needs,” (Sorensen). Despite this, many medical professionals “insufficiently prepared to meet the needs of increasingly diverse populations” (Sorensen). In 2013, the Culturally Competent in Medical Education program was launched, attempting to integrate cultural competency skills in European medical education. This framework covered core learning objectives, addressing knowledge and attitudes that enables one to be more culturally competent. However, in order to have culturally competent physicians, research shows that they must be taught by culturally competent professionals in the first place. Some scholars even say that competencies are observable and measurable, as a combination of “knowledge, skills, and behavior used to improve performance,” and find that individuals who display competencies are found to “consistently distinguish outstanding from typical work in a job or role” (Nessipbayeva). It was suggested that medical schools “offer mandatory CC training for all teachers to enhance and strengthen teachers’ cultural competencies,” and ensure that the teaching staff reflect the cultural diversity present in society (Sorensen).
The intersectionality present in each individual patient must be respected and appreciated, despite the unique challenges that may occur. Instituting curriculum adjustments in medical schools could provide future medical professionals with critical knowledge that aids them in effectively and efficiently communicating with their patients, thus creating a healthy patient-physician relationship. To look even further, it could be said that changes to how medical schools teach and physicians learn has the potential to “broaden the experiences and competencies, while also anticipating future challenges” for healthcare and educational institutions as diversity continues to increase (Sorensen). Health inequalities related to culture and ethnicity may be reduced by incorporating cultural issues into the medical curriculum, and by training medical teachers and future physicians according to the needs of the patient population (Lanting).
American medical schools have also seen a dramatic increase in cultural competency programs due to the growing diversity within the population. However, while some of these programs share common goals, they may differ in terms of content and emphasis, resulting in cross-cultural medical training being “absent from students' clinical rotations, when it might be most relevant and memorable,” (Kripalani). While health disparities and the impact culture has on healthcare is more greatly appreciated today, some patients are still negatively impacted by the “perceived cultural insensitivity” still present in society. For example, they may delay seeking treatment, or may be concerned that they will receive a lower standard of care as a result of their background. Racial differences may still persist inadvertently within the medical field. Negative consequences show how important it is to continue educating future medical professionals prior to entering the workforce.
The AAMC created a standard for cultural competence in 2000, stating that “the faculty and students must demonstrate an understanding of the manner in which people of diverse cultures and belief systems perceive health and illness and respond to various symptoms, diseases, and treatments. Medical students should learn to recognize and appropriately address gender and cultural biases in health care delivery, while considering first the health of the patient” (AAMC). This standard has been utilized across American medical schools in order to emphasize and identify cultural competency within the medical school curriculum. Because of a globally diverse population, acknowledging health disparities and social determinants of health and training future physicians to be cognizant of such factors is more important than ever.
Rational, Mental, and Social Competencies
Jake Pinello
Throughout the process of me developing my major over the last year, I have frequently referred to my major as an expanded toolbox of sorts. The inspiration behind my Human Behavior, Interaction, and Decision-making major was, in fact, the desire to optimize my competency when it comes to analyzing why people do the things they do. In this capacity, competency means having the most well-rounded portfolio suited to interpret and understand things that humans do in their daily lives.
I do this through the lens of three different complimentary fields: economics, psychology, and sociology. Each component of my major pinpoints a specific category of things that affect how we live our lives, and it’s due to this multi-dimensional perspective that I feel I have developed a level of competency that will be very beneficial in my post-graduate endeavors. Following graduation, I intend on pursuing a PhD in the field of economics with an emphasis on behavioral economics. Obtaining a PhD in economics will require a problem-solving method that is more efficient than many. Economics (and academia in general) demands a high level of multi-dimensional thinking, meaning that only thinking one or two steps deep into the problem will often times leave you with an inadequate solution.
My economics courses have prepared me for this by forcing me to further develop my rational competencies through exploring what it means to be a rational decision maker and to always consider what issues the solution may cause. It has put me in situations where I am forced to put emotions and other clouding stimuli aside and to come up with a solution to complex, real-world problems. This has helped me on many different fronts, as it has helped me to prioritize certain things more than others in hopes of making rational choices rooted in fact.
Psychology has prepared me for what the future holds by pointing out all of the downfalls present in the human mind. I am now aware and able to better account for biases that can cloud people’s judgement and lead them to making poor decisions, something I refer to as mental competency. This is incredibly important, as the only way to combat issues like these is to acknowledge their existence and take them into consideration when making important decisions. The sociological perspective that I have been adopting will help me with how I interact with people, which is a major key to success, regardless of industry. These courses have exposed me to a sort of social competency, requiring the acknowledgment that everything can be affected by the cultural and social forces that pull on them. It is necessary to consider these forces when interacting with people that come from different walks of life.
Effective interaction with other people helps to create a work/learning environment that is better for all parties involved; and if it weren’t for sociology, I would have never considered many of the perspectives that I have been fortunate enough to come into contact with. All in all, competency speaks to the level of effectiveness that you navigate through life with. If you have it, you will succeed. If you don’t, you will fail. My interdisciplinary major focuses on rational competency, mental competency, and social competency. This will give me a major advantage in my graduate school endeavors as the ability to view the same problem from different perspectives almost always ensures a better end result.
You'll Never Find a Job Majoring in _________
Corinne Martin
You’ll never find a job majoring in _______.
Whether it was a ‘well-meaning’ relative at Thanksgiving, or a concerned counselor in high school, or even a peer of yours, so many of us have been at the receiving end of this sentence. However, if I were to ask you to fill in that blank, what are the odds that you’d choose a major in the humanities or the liberal arts? I’m guessing pretty likely. As someone who has been asked this question, and left to wonder whether my passions or my future bank account were more important, I have also grown to wonder why humanities and liberal arts majors are so devalued? These questions have led me to propose that the devaluing of humanities and liberal-arts disciplines in our higher education systems is a reflection and result of the current social, economic, and political problems our country faces today.
The assertion that humanities and liberal-arts majors are devalued in our society, doesn’t come without evidence. This evidence begins by examining two articles posted by Forbes magazine. One is titled “15 Most Valuable College Majors.” This list features various STEM oriented majors like Engineering, Math, and Computer Science. The second article is titled, “10 Worst College Majors” and features almost entirely liberal-arts majors like English, History, and Anthropology. Almost any list similar to these that you look at would probably warrant the same results. And ultimately this reflects the core value of our country: making money. Humanities disciplines offer less opportunity for profit, and therefore are viewed as lower value.
It is important, then, to consider exactly what skills, principles, and ideals our society is devaluing. Humanities is driven by the empathetic exploration of other perspectives. It encourages people to think outside of themselves, and their own communities, and gain a better understanding of other cultures. Without the humanities we would lose our greatest works of art, Shakespeare’s genius, and the important knowledge of the histories that led us to where we are today. This discipline at its heart encourages creativity and collaboration. It is our histories, our cultures, and our narratives -- something which is of great importance to me.
With our country being founded on the Western perspective fueled by conquering and asserting dominance, it seems clear then why humanities disciplines would be given lesser value. The foundations laid through colonialism have created for this country ideals of individual over collective and profit over people. This mindset has led to many of the greatest problems of our country. Political polarization, systemic racism, and environmental degradation in America can all be tied back to these Western values. As another example, look at class divide in America. Citing the same two articles from Forbes, the difference between the median salaries of the highest valued job in article one and the lowest valued job in article two was $125,000 dollars. And that is comparing the salaries between two people who both have a degree. Imagine how large the divide could be for someone without one.
Now, I’ll be clear when I say that I don’t think that STEM majors or non-humanities major inherently have these values, or that the humanities should be of higher value than them. I think STEM and non-humanities majors are just as important to our society, and have also done amazing things to improve our world. However, there needs to be a balance between the two sides. This balance allows them to work collaboratively together for a more cohesive future.
In the end our society reflects what we value. And in many ways the values of the humanities are reflections of my indigenous ancestors. What if we let those values lead the land again as they once did? How different could our world look if we equally valued the humanities? If we let ourselves be led through collaboration and understanding of others? If we declared people just as important as profit? If our stories were just as important as our innovations? How many problems could we solve? And what future would we create for the seven generations ahead of us?
Challenging Students
Aaron Ringer
As a college student, work ethic and time management are two things we are constantly told to improve upon for better grades. When speaking with peers, drawing upon personal experiences, and looking at previous studies it can be found that these two categories are some of the hardest for previously “gifted” or advanced students. There has been speculation and previous reasoning regarding this topic. One reason was that the public school system did not challenge kids enough and they became bored and unmotivated. This theory may be true but if you add in an additional understanding, then the topic may gain a deeper understanding.
What needs to be added in is the understanding of levels to challenging students. In The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, the authors evaluate the connection between ability and difficulty. It explains that when given a task below your ability you feel bored and unmotivated, but when given a challenge drastically above ability, you experience a feeling of fear and dread. The sweet spot of ability and difficulty is when you are “stretched but not stressed out.” (K & P, 233) They even go on to say that “when high challenges are met with high skills, then the deep involvement that sets flow apart from ordinary life is likely to occur.” Meaning that when a high achiever faces a high challenge they are able to break out of the normal and possibly boring situations that usually occur and challenge their mind.
Integrating this knowledge a new theory incorporating the current situation of gifted college students can be made. In the current situation, students appear to have bad work ethic and procrastinate as a result of the work appearing below their level, causing them to feel bored or unmotivated. What if, students procrastinate till the last minute to bring more challenge into a seemingly easy assignment. Nothing is more challenging to fight against than time. In order to get a challenge worthy of their abilities these students take it upon themselves to add a degree of difficulty. Alternatively, this procrastination could be a continuation of a habit developed in high school. College is recognizably different from highschool but homework and projects are still just work. Until, the work is too difficult to complete in the time left after procrastination there will be no attempt to change. As it stands, without failure the task is still not big enough to invoke the anxiety and fear that K & P discuss.
The result of lackluster difficulty in previous education and the continuation of that mindset into college, students take it upon themselves to make the courses harder. Whether it is the continuation of a habit developed in high school or a new path created in college. The procrastination of assignments and projects by previously gifted children creates a higher level of difficulty that invokes more motivation and effort. Until the student faces a situation too big for their ability, this issue will continue and create an atmosphere of procrastination until anxiety to complete the project.
“So, What Are You Studying, and Why?”
Jonny Morris
My self-designed major is Leadership Development. There are three main purposes that this major is designed to fulfill, which are:
- To become a better collaborator
- To become a better problem-solver
- To gain an understanding of and apply leadership theories and practices
I designed Leadership Development with the intention of building myself into a person who is able to step into any field, especially within a team environment, and be effective in their work. I also designed my major with the 3 purposes that I did because I wanted my education to be highly applicable to my personal life as well.
Collaboration: The action of working with someone to produce or create something.
In a world that is relying and prospering more and more through innovation and synergy, the ability to collaborate will be/is essential. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach to educating myself is an embodiment of collaboration at work. Gaining the understanding of the perspectives, languages, and norms of multiple disciplines will allow me to more easily communicate and work with and across more fields as well as synthesize the information into a common language. I’m leaning on classes from the departments of Communications and Sociology to provide me with some of the conceptual and practical understandings of collaboration, and am using experiences provided by classes in the ISAT and Management departments to apply that knowledge.
Problem-Solving: The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues
I think this skill’s value speaks for itself. Every person, group, organization, city, country, etc. can benefit from having more people that are effective at problem-solving. Imagine if you were 10% more efficient at solving the problems and overcoming the challenges you face in your day-to-day life. What do you think would be possible for you that you may perceive as not being present or possible for you now? I imagine a lot. Now, add even just a 10% increase in your problem-solving skills with even just a 10% increase in your collaborative skills (I am aiming for much more than 10%). I’m mainly using systems-thinking-related classes from the ISAT department as well as management class like “Evidence-Based Decision-Making” to learn about and apply the information to become a better problem-solver. Having the collaborative knowledge from the Communications department and the Sociology department will help me in solving problems that involve the complexities of people.
Leadership Theories and Practices
This area of inquiry asks, “How do leaders see and act in the world?” If I want to become a leader, it makes sense that I would benefit from being able to read situations and apply actions that leaders would. Being aware of even just the Situational Leadership model, a model that prescribes certain approaches based on the variable levels of “followers” competencies and commitment, can be extraordinarily useful.
I view leadership, mostly, as a way to help others, whether person or organization, develop themselves into the “better” (whatever better means to the people/organizations) versions of themselves. Combine the awareness and experience of using concepts and practices of leadership with effective collaboration and problem solving skills, and you have quite the capable human being.
I realize that this can be seen as a generalist approach, and I believe that a generalist, someone who is versed in multiple disciplines and schools of thought can act as a much better bridge than a specialist.
My hope is that this interdisciplinary-approach to leadership will be a model for future programs in and/or outside of the university that is offered to aspiring leaders. In today’s (and I think tomorrow’s world) we will prosper more from leaders who are able to balance the human and the technical sides of life with greater efficiency.