The Franke Global Leadership Initiative (GLI) is a four-year, 12-credit certificate program in which you connect with peers, delve into global issues, discover your leadership style, gain real-world experience outside of the classroom, and implement a complex project that addresses a societal challenge. Upon graduation you will earn a certificate in global leadership, which complements any degree on campus.

As you create your path through the program, you will explore one or more of the global themes. These global themes represent big ideas and provide broad contexts in which to consider global challenges.

Why Join?

Benefits

• Small, seminar-style class in first semester
• Part of a globally-minded student community
• Connections to faculty mentors
• Opportunities to meet with leaders from around the world
• Funding for out-of-classroom experiences (e.g., study abroad, internships)
• Additional advisors to support your holistic student experience
• Certificate in global leadership on your diploma

Marketable Skills

• Leadership training and development
• Understanding of global issues and challenges, and the cultures and societies impacted by them
• Collaborative problem-solving
• Project creation and management
• Proposal preparation and conference presentation
• Working in diverse teams
• Hands-on experiences (e.g., internships, study abroad)

Alumni Quotes

(Excerpts from anonymous alumni survey)

"In retrospect, the most significant aspect of the GLI program was the combination of tangible support (scholarship opportunities, guidance from highly experienced thinkers, aggregated resources for information and networking, etc.) and the freedom to approach large problems with an emphasis on inter-professional collaboration with creative elements. For me, it was the people that made it all possible in maintaining access to these supports and I was able to capture opportunities I would have otherwise likely never had."

"GLI helped me be a better learner that is able to encounter things outside my zone of recognition.... Learning to be nimble and flexible and happy to encounter new things are all skills that have served me very well since leaving college."

"Professionally, the influence of the GLI program has been significant; today, I consistently use the tools and skills I learned through the GLI program in my teams."

"The opportunity it gave to me to study abroad was an incredible experience that cemented my desire to make the world a better place through education and teach students to approach life with empathy and a global perspective."