the Informer

Last month Barney School students enrolled in the class, “Leadership in the 21st Century,” worked on group projects that connected the issue of global warming and helping the University community.

The class is taught by assistant professor Linda Cohen. The project, titled “The Heated Issue Project,” is explained in the class syllabus as an experience, explains that it was made to persuade people on campus to think about the issue of global warming.

It also asked students to think about how their individual consumer choices and energy consumption play into the equation.

For the class, it was a way to gain additional leadership experience for their resumes, and helped them by assessing their leadership skills.

The project was divided into nine student groups, and each group focused its project on leadership by involving the university community and making each project interactive.

“I teach the class in a learning-by-doing approach, as it is difficult to learn about leadership passively, ‘The Heated Issue Project’ was important for the students’ development as leaders, and also in the context of the Barney School’s key mission areas of global awareness and social responsibility,” stated Cohen.

The nine projects included an Egg Toss, a “Recycle-A-Thon,” C.L.I.N.G. Cigarette Litter Is Not Good, Red Bull Environmental Awareness Campaign, Men’s Restroom campaign, Aluminum Tab Toss and the UHA CAN Campaign.

The “Recycle-A-Thon”was held on the Gengras lawn. The event included games with prizes, and students were asked to bring various recyclables for the project such as bottles and cans.

The UHA CAN Campaign had teams collecting as many soda and beer cans as they could over the course of a weekend.

The three teams that collected the most cans each won a portion of the cash proceeds from returning the cans.

The Red Bull Environmental Awareness Campaign included an interactive Q&A, Red Bull giveaways, and students signed commitment cards to the environment.

“My students accomplished a lot, given that this was a very short (two-week) project. I’m very proud of my students for their leadership, initiative, creativity and engagement with the broader university community,” said Cohen.