6 October 2000 Applications open for 2001 Kellogg Rural Leadership Course

Increased change facing New Zealand primary producers makes opportunities such as the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme more timely and relevant than ever to people working in the rural sector, says Lincoln University's Professor Tony Zwart, Director of the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme.

The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme has been offered at Lincoln since 1979, when it was started with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation in the United States. The next course, in February 2001, will be the seventeenth time the programme has been presented and applications and nominations for selection are open now.

The Primary Industry Council (formerly known as the Joint Producers Boards) has been the programme's principal funder since the early 1980s. The other partial funder is Lincoln University.

The course is specifically targeted at leadership in the rural sector and aims to encourage skilful rural leadership and a confident rural voice, to balance any possible domination of national policy-making by purely urban influences.

Former "Kelloggers" can be found in influential positions in many areas of the New Zealand economy.

"The individual participant's success in the programme lies as much in the personal confidence boost they receive, as in the skills they learn and the networks they build with their fellow students," says Professor Zwart. "And, with exchange rate fluctuations and the changes facing Producer Boards, the programme is more relevant than ever."

The programme is in three phases –

Phase I is a five-day residential programme, incorporating formal and interactive sessions, held at Lincoln University in February 2001. The sessions include addresses from a range of guest speakers, on the concept and the practice of leadership.

Phase II, covering the bulk of the year, involves the scholars working on individual research projects relating what they have learned to their own work environment or rural interests.

Phase III sees the Kelloggers return to Lincoln University in November 2001, to present their projects to the group. They then travel to Wellington where they study political processes and mechanisms of government, and meet CEOs and other industry and business heads to discuss the practical nature of leadership.

The course is limited to 24 participants chosen by a selection committee. The scholars pay no tuition or administrative fees, but meet the cost of accommodation at Lincoln and transport to and from the campus.

Applications close 20 November 2000, and prospectus and application forms are available from: Cora Baillie, Professional Development Group, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Canterbury. Telephone (03) 325 3628 or Fax (03) 325 3840. Email: baillec@lincoln.ac.nz

Cora Baillie, Professional Development Group, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand