Mike Johnson, Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and Student Success; Professor

UK Leadership Development Activities

Leadership Programs within the UK Pigman College of Engineering 

Student Leadership:

• EGR490 Engineering Leadership Program 
  This is a selective leadership program for undergraduate juniors and seniors, run as a course in the spring semester where students meet with successful industry and alumni partners and learn about their career journeys.  It includes a spring break trip to Washington DC.
• EGR190 Understanding Leadership course 
  This is a 1-credit introductory leadership course for students in the SEAM Honors Pathway
• Pigman Scholars Leadership training:  Students who receive the Pigman Scholarship participate in a number of mentorship and leadership activities operated through The Lighthouse Beacon Foundation (TLBF) in partnership with the college
• Student organizations:  Numerous engineering student organization have their own leadership programming, trainings, and national and regional conferences. The umbrella organization for all engineering orgs is Engineering Student Council, which also has a national leadership meeting that our ESC Officers participate with.
• Student Ambassadors:  Engineering has a student ambassador program affiliated with our recruiting program that helps with events and tours.   
• Peer mentors: The Engineering LLP has a peer mentor program. The ELLP also provides many events and workshops for students that include leadership-related topics.
• Career peers

Faculty Leadership:

• Engineering has a development program for new faculty that includes leadership content, as well as a formal mentorship program pairing junior faculty with more senior faculty.
   

Areas of Leadership Expertise

I have been involved in student leadership programs for 10-15 years, both at UK and my former institution.  At UK I founded a Scholars in Engineering Leadership program which we ran for about 3 years then discontinued, focused on trying to build leadership skills within a larger set of students.

My primary goal working with students in the area of leadership is to convey that leadership skills are "everyday skills for everyday people" and represent an essential set of skills for career preparation and development for all our students.