Students will have the opportunity to sharpen their leadership skills in a class once again offered by NIU.

The leadership workshop, also known as EPCO 490, is currently taught by the University Programming and Activities staff, said UP&A Coordinator Rick Clark.

The workshop, which will be offered for the fall semester, is offered only to students who currently are in or plan to run for leadership positions in organizations and want help to become better leaders, he said.

Despite the university budget cuts, Clark said he is confident the class will not be affected, although the class could be axed.

Clark said the class was not offered last year because the UP&A had nobody to teach it after Associate Director Flecia Thomas resigned.

UP&A Director Micki Emmett said she is happy the class started up again because she came up with the idea for the course when she was the associate director.

“People have been lined up to take the class,” she said.

Although they are not paid for teaching the class, each member of the UP&A staff shares his or her own expertise on leadership, he said.

The three credit-hour class deals with issues such as leadership theories, group goals, communication, time management, conflict and creativity, Clark said.

In addition to the midterm and final, class projects are part of the course.

One project is a case study of a fictitious organization, Clark said. Students must locate the problems in the organization and take the necessary actions to make it stronger.

Clark also said students will critique the style of a leader, present or past, and compare it with their own style.

Students will have the chance to evaluate the organization they belong to and how they can make their group stronger, he said.

“Everything we do relates to their (the student’s) organization,” he said.