Leadership Education at the Undergraduate Level: A Liberal Arts Approach to Leadership Development

The number of recognized leadership development programs in institutions of higher education is rapidly nearing 1,000. This includes all three forms of leadership programs-training, education, and development, as outlined by Ayman, Adams, Hartman, and Fisher (chap. 11, this volume; also see Mangan, 2002; Sorenson, 2000). Yet, relatively few of these programs are curricular-based undergraduate programs offering academic credit in the form of a bachelor’s degree, academic minor, or certificate. The purposes of this chapter are (a) to provide an overview of the historical and conceptual development of undergraduate leadership studies programs, (b) to connect college-based leadership studies programs with

the larger literature on leadership development via a model, (c) to provide guidelines for undergraduate curricular programs, and (d) to provide specific examples of leadership studies curricula with a liberal arts focus.