The Colman Leadership Program seeks to enroll 25-30 students every January and June for an intensive four-day immersion program focused on providing Ph.D. students with skills and knowledge that will support their development as leaders in graduate school and beyond. (*MFA students are also invited to apply, given that the M.F.A. is a terminal degree and the degree commonly held by some faculty in fields granting this degree.)

The program has the capacity to serve a broader base of students. Consequently, consideration will be given to applications from PhD* students from all graduate fields and backgrounds (domestic and international). However, Graduate School Dean’s Scholars with the following fellowships and affiliations will receive priority consideration for enrollment in the program.

• Cornell Colman Fellowship
• Cornell Sloan Fellowship
• Deans Excellence Fellowship
• SUNY Diversity Fellowship
• McNair Graduate Fellowship
• Mellon Mays Graduate Fellowship
• Cornell IMSD Program
• Cornell GEM PhD Fellowship
• Provost Diversity Fellowship
• Bouchet Honor Society

Admitted students that commit to enrolling in the Colman Leadership Program must commit to participating in the full program. The program does not permit late arrivals or early departures on any of the programs dates.

Should You Apply?

You have a choice of leadership development opportunities at Cornell via multiple offerings of courses and programs. We would like you to choose the best of these options for yourself. If you are considering applying to the Colman Leadership Program, you should know that it is an immersive learning laboratory type of experience. It is predicated on discovery, integration and synthesis and not on prescriptive norms of leadership. We quote from former participants below to help you decide.

Priority Applicant Consideration:

• PhD students with Cornell Colman or Sloan Fellowships 
• Students in Year 3 or later of their PhD studies. 
• Students in the following Sloan graduate fields:
  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Applied & Engineering Physics
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Biochemistry
  • Biological Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • Computer Science
  • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Genetics, Genomics & Development
  • Geological Sciences
  • Immunology & Infectious Disease
  • Material Science & Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Molecular & Cell Biology
  • Natural Resources
  • Operations Research & Information Engineering
  • Theoretical & Applied Mechanics

It is for you if you are seeking what these participants have described:

“The Colman program works hard to equip attendees with language to understand themselves and others. One of the key strengths of the program, however, is to not only supply definitions/clarifications but to emphasize the malleability of any of these terms and behaviors:  in different contexts you may display different styles of thinking, processing, and acting. The program also reinforces that everyone in a group or organization is constantly expressing these strengths and values and shifting on a spectrum; in understanding those human dynamics, we can be more communicative, empathetic, and effective leaders and conflict mediators. The program does present a lot of useful models, but I think I walked away with more self-discovery and perspective than discrete, applicable models. To be clear, I don’t think this is a failure in the program, but a philosophical difference (emotional intelligence versus a set of theories)”

“The program did not meet my expectations – it EXCEEDED them. I thought I’d walk away with some tips on how to inhabit the role of a classic leader and mold myself to some expected archetype. Instead I learned how all of us have leadership potential and can not only find our flavor of leadership within ourselves, but inspire it in others by appreciating their strengths.”

The Colman Leadership Program might not be for you if you are not prepared to engage in intensive self-discovery experiences, or are seeking to develop specific managerial skills and a forum to practice those skills.