SELF Program Overview
The SELF Program turns great engineers into great leaders. Guest speakers from industry offer their time to inspire SELF Fellows by sharing their stories and passion for engineering leadership. Industry tours are an aspect of the program that immerse the Fellows in the fields they are most interested in pursuing. Fellows have the opportunity to plan and host events in the School of Engineering, including the annual Flapjacks for Philanthropy, a spring pancake feed benefiting local charities hosted by the sophomore class, and High School Design, a design competition for high school students that serves as a large School of Engineering recruitment event and STEM outreach hosted by the junior class. The Class of 2014 raised over $3,500 for a local SafeCenter for sexual assault victims at Flapjacks for Philanthropy in April 2012, and hosted over 300 high school students in the High School Design Competition in November 2012. Collectively, SELF Fellows participate in over one-hundred student groups, where many of them broaden their ideas and horizons by serving as distinguished leaders. Although SELF requires only ten hours of community service per year, Fellows consistently go above and beyond to perform hundreds of hours of community service each semester.
Expectations of the SELF Program for the Capstone Project
The Self Engineering Leadership Fellowship builds upon the seven pillars, while challenging engineering coursework continuously tests the time management and problem solving skills of students. The Capstone project is a senior project designed to encompass all pillars of the SELF Program and all fields of engineering. The implementation of the project and depth of the project development is left for the senior Fellows to decide.
ABOUT THE SELF PROGRAM
SELF Mission Statement
The Self Engineering Leadership Fellowship (SELF) Program aims to build leaders among motivated undergraduate engineering and computer science students. A selective group at the University of Kansas School of Engineering, 76 SELF Fellows, receive a generous financial award while participating in and contributing to various leadership development curriculum. Workshops and events allow Fellows the opportunity to take the lead among their peers to plan programs and coordinate with faculty and industry to reach specified goals. The Program focuses on seven pillars, building business, communication, engineering, entrepreneurship, interpersonal, leadership, and management skills in students. As such, SELF consistently graduates accomplished, dedicated professionals who are fully capable of leading teams that confront and solve modern-day engineering problems in the workplace.
Thank you Al and Lila Self for all you have given us over the years. Without your generosity we would not be here.