UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Each year, 30 first-year students at Penn State's University Park campus are selected for membership in the Presidential Leadership Academy (PLA).
Founded with a lead gift from Edward R. and Helen S. Hintz in 2009, the PLA was established for students to develop critical-thinking skills and to educate them to understand the complexity and variability of current events and global issues. A core principle of the PLA is that the world rarely operates at the extremes and that it is the space in-between — the gray area, where leadership is developed and defined.
"The PLA is an amazing opportunity for students. The one most unique aspect is for students to share a class not only with President [Eric] Barron but also to hold discussions with peers from different perspectives," said Presidential Leadership Academy Director Melissa Doberstein. "Each cohort has students from across academic majors, and all students share their own unique experiences and backgrounds with one another. Along with the classes, the opportunity to participate in field trips, network, and hear from a wide range of speakers, the PLA strives to enhance each student's learning."
In addition to program coursework, students attend leadership seminars, engage in community programs, and, when travel is permitted, participate in fully-funded field trips planned during each academic semester that aim to shed light on social, political, and environmental issues outside of the University.
Penn State’s president teaches a weekly seminar course for second-year students. Additional courses focused on leadership development are led by the dean of the Schreyer Honors College, Patrick T. Mather, and Doberstein. The final year in PLA concludes with a capstone experience and an e-portfolio project.
“PLA has given me a broad range of connections and extremely close friends,” said Amanda Mohamed, a third-year student studying labor and human resources, global and international studies, and Spanish.
"Besides the classes with access to high-level officials, different programming, and the immersive trips, I have had the opportunity to intern for the PLA and gain important experiences to further my career. I connected with many alumni through the internship and helped current PLA students create the same connections. Networking with people is a skill that I learned to foster through the PLA," said Mohamed.
PLA has supported Mohamed with extensive grants to help fund her college experiences. For example, she received a grant to travel to Hawaii and work in a bee sanctuary and could afford a new laptop with the assistance of the PLA.
Anton Aluquin, a third-year student studying immunology and infectious disease, found working with real-life policy issues to be the most impactful part of his PLA experience.
“Getting a taste of public health policy, or policy in general is not something many undergraduate students get to experience," said Aluquin. "In class, we learned how to apply our leadership skills when dealing with multifaceted policy issues.”
First-year students at University Park with a GPA of 3.2 or above may apply to PLA by midnight, Friday, Feb. 25. Additionally, Penn State faculty and staff members may nominate qualified first-year students. The deadline to do so is Friday, Feb. 15.
Questions and inquiries about the admission process, including nominations, can be directed to Melissa Doberstein at mif3@psu.edu.