Thirty slots are available for The Leadership Challenge workshop, slated for Dec. 2-3 and sponsored by Ohio University's Department of Campus Life. Online registration opens Wednesday.

Kevin Smith, Campus Life's interim assistant director of leadership and community service, said the eight students who work in Baker University Center's Amanda J. Cunningham Leadership Center researched and recommended the workshop as a way to enhance student leadership opportunities.

"Whether you're a faculty member or student, it's very valuable," Smith said of the workshop. "There are a lot of different opportunities (that focus on leadership development), but few of them are very proven. The Leadership Challenge is special because it was developed in an academic and corporate environment. As a department, we are very pleased to be bringing such a hallmark program to campus."

The workshop is rooted in a research project undertaken by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner in 1983. The pair sought to determine what ordinary people did when they were at their "personal best" in leading others. They developed their Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership model after analyzing such personal-best cases.

Their book "The Leadership Challenge," published in 1987, has sold more than 1.5 million copies and been translated into 12 languages. Kouzes and Posner have since authored more than a dozen books on leadership.

The leadership workshop ties in with the Division of Student Affairs' desire to increase leadership opportunities for Ohio University students, Smith said. The goal is especially pragmatic, he noted, given that a March study by the National Association of College Employers found that a proven ability to lead is the top quality employers seek in college graduates.

Smith said staff members at other universities have expressed an interest in sending employees and students to the December workshop on the Athens campus.

The registration rate for the workshop is $375 for students and $475 for others.

For more information or to register workshop, visit www.ohio.edu/campuslife/leadershipchallenge.cfm or contact Campus Life at 740-597-1619.