Wisconsin students have new way to learn to be leaders

Undergraduate business and engineering students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who aim to be leaders in their careers and communities now have a new way to reach that goal.

This fall, the UW–Madison School of Business opens the Accenture Leadership Center (ALC) to provide opportunities for students to develop leadership skills outside the classroom. Michael Knetter, dean of the School of Business, says the center “will allow our undergraduate students to develop the confidence to lead with integrity.”

Active and retired senior executives of Accenture, the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, provided financial support to endow the center, helped develop its curriculum and will serve as instructors and role models. The center is the only one of its kind in the nation.

The ALC curriculum is delivered in partnership with LeaderShape Institute, which during the past 20 years has worked with more than 20,000 young adults representing 750 colleges and universities.

Jim Wierzba, a retired Accenture partner who earned his undergraduate degree and MBA from UW–Madison, says that he and his colleagues wanted to “create a special learning experience by combining the inspirational instructional material from the LeaderShape Institute with the mentoring capacity of active and retired Accenture senior executives.”

The center will serve pre-business and business students, with participation open to engineering undergraduate students. Enrollment is open to all undergraduate students in the two schools, regardless of major.

The center’s yearlong curriculum has four major components:

• LeaderShape Institute: An intensive six-day session focused on concepts through hands-on learning. The first session is planned for January.
• Mentoring sessions: Six shorter sessions led by experienced business practitioners.
• Project Work: Clusters of students working together on a major project for UW–Madison or broader Madison community.
• Capstone event: Celebrates the accomplishments of participants.

For information on the Accenture Leadership Center, call (608) 265-3771 or e-mail www.ALC@bus.wisc.edu.