Strayer University Offers Lee Cockerell Course

I thought you might be interested in the leadership course I developed for Strayer University…..Lee

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Campus Faculty and Staff
FROM:           Joel. O. Nwagbaraocha
SUBJECT:   New Course – BUS546: Leadership Strategies      
DATE:            September 10, 2008             

I am pleased to announce that the Academic Curriculum Committee has approved a new graduate elective course to be offered to all eligible graduate students starting fall 2008.  The new course is called “Leadership Strategies” (BUS 546) and is now available as an online class (section # BUS546-002016 for session 200902). 

Our “Leadership Strategies” course is very unique compared to most Strayer University courses.  Strayer University partnered with well-known leadership expert and Walt Disney World Company Executive Vice President, Lee Cockerell, to develop the course content.  Mr. Cockerell tapped his vast leadership experience and expertise to help create a course that takes real-world applicability to a new level.  Below is a more detailed description of the course, as well as some more back ground on Mr. Cockerell.

Course Description:
This course will examine and analyze today’s leadership environment to include challenges of leaders in modern organizations. The course will present leadership strategies to enhance both individual and corporate productivity by fostering a cohesive work environment through improved employee relations.  To accomplish these goals, proven strategies of renowned business leaders will be studied to understand the challenges that they encountered, to benchmark their keys to success, and to learn from their experiences.  Emphasis will be placed on self-analysis, self-assessment, and development of individual career plans.

Background on course creator Lee Cockerell:
Lee Cockerell is the retired Executive Vice President, Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort, a position he held for ten years. Mr. Cockerell, upon joining Disney in 1990, opened the Disneyland Paris project in Paris. Disney World employs 7,000 managers and 60,000 cast members (employees) in Orlando. Prior to joining Disney Mr. Cockerell spent eight years with Hilton Hotels Corporation and seventeen years with Marriott Hotels and Resorts in Various executive positions. Mr. Cockerell developed the Disney Great Leader Strategies which is the basis for his book and for many leadership development seminars conducted at the world-renowned Disney Institute, which trains more than 100,000 top-level managers and executive from a wide range of industries each year. Mr. Cockerell is a popular keynote speaker, he frequently addresses Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits across the country and is often asked to speak on behalf of the Disney Institute. For additional information on Mr. Cockerell go to his website at: https://www.leecockerell.com.

Mr Cockerell’s book Creating Magic…Ten Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disney will be published on October 14, 2008 and will be the text book for this course.

Who is eligible for this course?
This new course is offered as an alternative elective to (1) those MBA students who are eligible to replace BUS508: The Business Enterprise with a graduate elective, and (2) Graduate students who have been granted permission (by their campus dean) to take BUS546 as a substitute for another course on their curriculum. Unlike other courses in our graduate programs BUS546: Leadership Strategies is not a required course in any program at this time. Therefore, students must be counseled appropriately when registering for the course.

To assist in identifying those students who may be interested in taking BUS546, we have attached a list of students that, as of Sept 8, 2008, are eligible to replace BUS508: The Business Enterprise with a graduate elective.  This new course represents a great “excuse” for Admissions and Student Support to initiate a calling campaign to eligible new and continuing students to get them enrolled in the course.   But hurry, because this course is new, space will be limited. 

Additional Course Specifics:
The course guide for the course will be available for faculty on the campus faculty portal on Monday September 15, 2008.  Furthermore, the instructional materials will be listed (as back-ordered) on the MBS site on Monday September 15, 2008.  Because we expect the text will be delayed until October 14th, we plan to post the first few chapters of the text on the course shell, available for no charge to registered students on the first day of class.  You should advise your students to pre-order the text so that it is sent to them on October 14, 2008.  If you have questions regarding the new course, please email your regional dean.