CIC LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE
       |
WHAT IS THE CIC-LI? In the spring of 2005, Jason Bronowitz and Brian Ross met with Michael Fosbury, of the Broome Leadership Institute, to design a course that would expose students to the opportunities available in the Greater Binghamton region. Coined the CIC Leadership Institute, the class was launched in the spring of 2006 with funding raised through contributions from local businesses and Binghamton University's Office of the Provost. The program's unique format caters to CIC2020's mission in multiple facets. Through weekly off-campus classes, the local community and business members have a chance to meet with students and share their views, while the students have the opportunity to learn from and form connections with the area's leaders. The inaugural class was a non-credit opportunity offered to 22 students from various academic backgrounds. Every week for four hours the group visited a different site in the community and learned about a specific aspect of the area through discussion with community leaders. (See CIC LI 2007 for locations and topics of past classes.) By the spring of 2007, the CIC Directorate expanded the breadth of the Leadership Institute, offering it as a four credit course to select undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to the weekly trips into the community, It included a classroom component in which students met to reflect on their four hour off-campus experiences and to discuss economic development principles with guest speakers. The course has since been renamed "CIC Leadership and Innovation" as the "CIC Leadership Institute" came to describe the outstanding group of students who complete the semester-long endeavor. The CIC Directorate will continue to administer this class annually, allowing more students to hone their leadership skills, learn about the community, and hopefully consider staying in the Binghamton area after graduation. Please contact us if you are interested in getting involved! " The aim of education must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who, however, can see in the service to the community their highest life achievement." -Albert Einstein |