The minor is open to all IUP students in any major. The Professional Teamwork and Leadership minor is an interdisciplinary program that aims to better prepare students for a competitive job market by instilling interpersonal, teamwork, and communication skills for use in their field. Employers of today seek job candidates who possess a strong set of technical skills, but strongly prefer someone who can also work in a team environment. Ninety percent of employers believe that team skills are equally, or even more important, than technical skills when hiring. This minor provides students with ways to stand out from the crowd.
Successful leaders have confidence in their abilities, are passionate, possess strong values, are excellent planners and organizers as well as effective communicators. These attributes are imperative to solving key problems. The minor will build students’ identities as team members and leaders, transform and enhance their thought processes, and provide an expanded toolkit to cultivate effective teams.
The addition of the minor is practical for all majors, particularly those programs with few free electives looking to add more value and marketability. This minor will expose students to understanding how their beliefs, attitudes, and actions affect the team as well as how the diversity of the team adds strength and additional perspective to solve complex problems facing society. Students will learn how to engage audiences with nontechnical and technically rich content, frame and present arguments, and develop the ability to speak about their work and its significance. Traits of good team members and leaders will be examined and applied through case studies or by solving current, real-world problems.
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