The College Experience:
02 | Learning Leadership Skills
Each year about 350 students take part in the Student Leadership Institute, a non-credit certificate program that both teaches effective leadership skills and provides ways to practice them. Workshops, offered frequently during the semester, deal with such fascinating topics as ethical decision-making, dealing with difficult people, culture and gender roles, communication styles and leading in the face of controversy.
Students put these skills into practice by entering one of six tracks: career leadership, entering the work force; university leadership, personal and organizational traits; EMBRACE; intercultural communication; public service and nonprofit leadership, civic responsibility; peer health education, promoting healthy lifestyles; and student-to-student tutoring.
About 3,500 students have benefited from the program, centered in the office of the Dean of Students, since it began. In fact, The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development: A Resource for Parents, Students and Educators lists CSUF’s Student Leadership Institute among the guide’s “Exemplary Programs” in the student leadership category.
 The College of Business and Economics, in collaboration with three European universities, offers a Business Europe Study Tour. As students travel through five European countries, they gain first-hand insight into the continent’s economy and business and management practices. |
 The Vietnamese-American MBA Chapter of the Alumni Association, operated by recent MBA graduates, provides social and business opportunities for alumni living in Vietnam and abroad. Chapter meetings take place in both the USA and Vietnam. |
 American students from Cal State Fullerton and the University of Connecticut attend courses and conduct research on coastal marine management with their counterparts at two Brazilian universities. The goal is to “educate students about the global implications of not managing the development and use of our coastal seas and watersheds,” according to Steven Murray, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, himself a leading authority on marine ecosystems. |
 Teachers and managers from China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea come to the Fullerton campus for specialized training in education and public administration under agreements with Asian universities. Travel plans are not one-directional. In the Experience China program, California educators traveled to China to work with students in an international summer camp and to help Chinese teachers improve their skills in teaching English. |
