Aligning Leader Development

By Capt. Jamie McGrath, ’90,  Director, Major General W. Thomas Rice Center for Leader Development

The end of the 2023 spring semester sees two long term Rice Center projects come to fruition thanks to the hard work and partnership of the commandant’s staff and cadet leadership.

VTCC Leader Development Program

The Corps of Cadets enjoys a 150-year history here at Virginia Tech. One reason the Corps continues to thrive after a century and a half is its tradition of developing ethical leaders. Another reason is how the Corps has evolved to meet the needs of each generation in that development process. In that way, the Corps, while grounded in the past, is always looking to the future. One way the Rice Center is helping the Corps look to the future is by defining and codifying the Corps’ approach to leadership development. Noting that the organization has a strategic vision to guide the Corp’s growth, and cadet regulations to govern day-to-day activities, the Rice Center identified a gap between the two in describing the year-to-year objectives of the Corps as a four-year leader development program. The Corps Leaders Development Program (LDP) is designed to bridge that gap. 

Since the 2022 spring semester, an operational planning team with representatives from the commandant’s staff and cadet leadership has worked to capture those year-to-year objectives and align them with the Corps’ core values engraved on the Pylons: Ut Prosim, Brotherhood, Duty, Honor, Loyalty, Leadership, Service, and Sacrifice. The planning team also worked to align training objectives with the Corps’ strategic vision and the cadet regulations. Three pillars of leader development – practical, training, and education – provided the structure on which the Leader Development Program was built. This effort was fueled extensively by cadet desire to increase the focus on personal leadership experiences, train cadets for the next step in their leadership journey, and teach them how to react to the unexpected. The incoming fall semester cadet leaders will implement the LDP upon their return in August. Over the next several months, the LDP will be published on the Corps website and translated into a pamphlet that can be used in Corps recruiting and education activities.

A special thanks to Cadet Grace Lyle ’23, Cadet Evan Spradling ’23, and Cadet Shane Ervin ’24 for their input, critical comments, and most importantly, their advocacy in refining the Leader Development Program. 

Corps Training Time

One area where the LDP will pay immediate dividends is in the Corps Training Time (CTT) Corps Lab sessions. Scheduled four or five times each semester, these sessions were made possible when the Corps leadership classes were moved into the academic day. Run by the recently created Regimental Training Officer (S-37) and staff, these sessions addressed some of the class-specific training objectives in the LDP. The inaugural year of Corps Training Times yielded some excellent training opportunities where class years focused on their training needs at the level of detail necessary for improvement as cadets and preparation for the next phase of their career. This semester’s Corps Training Time activities have also provided valuable lessons for improving the process, thanks to the diligent work of Cadet Spradling, the Spring 2023 Regimental Training Officer. 

Graduation with Distinction

Along with the LDP and the CTT, the Corps initiated a new program to recognize outstanding graduating seniors. In December, two cadets became the first of the millennium to graduate from the Corps “with distinction.” Initiated this academic year, graduation with distinction is designed to recognize cadets who excel during their time in the Corps and highlight those things we hold important to our leader development program – academics, leadership, and support of Corps activities. Our graduates with distinction must have a GPA of 3.4 or better, which coincides with academic graduation with honors. Those cadets who seek higher Corps leadership positions – command and senior staff positions – have a clear path to distinction. Recognizing that not all cadets have an opportunity to command, cadets may accumulate points for leadership in Corps organizations, participation in leadership conferences, leading Corps activities, and supporting other activities that enhance the Corps and the cadet experience. After the initial cohort of two in December, this spring we saw another 45 cadets walk across the stage in Burruss Auditorium having earned graduating “with distinction.”