The leadership studies program in June will receive a $250,000 grant to bolster the program's minor, which was established along with the program last semester.
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVDF), which typically support schools and educational programming on public television, announced in February that they would award Tufts the grant; it is the fourth grant they have given the university.
According to Professor of Economics George Norman, the director of the leadership studies program, the grant will prove integral in expanding the minor program.
"The grant will be very helpful in doing things we otherwise could not have done," he said. "Part of the money will be used to commission additional courses to the minor. The other thing is staff support. As the program grows, there will be additional staffing requirements."
The donation will help speed up plans to hire another staff member, Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser said. This individual would oversee the minor's required seminar aspect.
"Students have to engage in some leadership experience and connect that experience to their studies. And to do that right, you need someone who is working closely with them," Glaser said. "It is a key ingredient to the success of the program."
There are no plans to expand the leadership studies program into a major.
In 2004, the foundation gave $200,000 to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy to help with building renovations. The leadership studies program's proposal was first written last May after a mandatory four-year waiting period between grant applications had elapsed.
Deans and members of the Office of University Advancement deliberated over the content of the proposal, and University President Lawrence Bacow made the final decision that the proposal would focus on the leadership studies program, according to Associate Director for the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations Miriam McLean.
"It was a priority; we wanted to get it started," McLean said of the choice of the Leadership Studies minor for the AVDF proposal.
AVDF Executive Director Jonathan Howe said that he is looking forward to hearing about the program's future, adding that it has "significant potential."
"When we give grants to universities, we are looking for things that will not only benefit the university but also undergraduate education in general," he said. "So we're very pleased with this program, which is already a significant contribution to what the university offers, but has the potential to help many other schools based on the initiative."
Leadership studies minor Brian Bresee, a sophomore, praised the quality of the Leadership Studies program.
"The fact that they got the grant is no surprise," Bresee said. "The professors that they get are all industry experts. They give you a lot more of the relevant and hand[s]-on experience than other classes at Tufts."
