Over the upcoming weeks, students will have the opportunity to learn valuable leadership skills through a series of workshops sponsored by the Center for Leadership Development.

Every semester for the past several years, the University has offered a series of leadership workshops taught by faculty members. This semester’s workshops began on Jan. 22 with Dr. Stephen Jones speaking on charting a path for leadership development. In addition to the topics traditionally covered by these workshops, several new topics have been added this semester.

Mr. Chris Pennington, a graduate assistant for the CLD and the one who oversees the organization of these workshops, said the University has received positive feedback from students who attended the workshops. As a result, the workshops will be expanded.

“We had over 1,500 people attend [workshops] last semester,” Pennington said. “We had a good response and we’re pushing forward with even more speakers and topics.”

New workshop topics include delegation, business communication, vision casting and the role of social media for Christians, a workshop Pennington believes will be particularly helpful.

“Mr. David Lovegrove [who will speak at the social media workshop] is a really great public speaker,” Pennington said, “and a big part of his job is teaching people how to use social media. He’ll give some really great guidance on how to use social media to further your career and the cause of Christ.”

Not only does this semester’s schedule include new workshops, but it also features a variety of speakers. For instance, chairman of the Division of Bible Dr. Dan Olinger will teach on biblical discipleship on March 5.

One of the workshops will also have a different format: the business communication workshop on March 3 will have a panel of speakers, allowing for an active discussion.

Group leaders, room leaders and society officers will each attend at least one of the workshops, but all students are encouraged to attend any of the workshops. More information on times, locations and how to sign up for workshops is available on the BJU intranet.