Clay Leadership Development Initiative
Objective: As a testament to the loyalty and dedication of Dr. Clay, the Maurice A. Clay Leadership Development Initiative exists to provide financial support to individual Circles seeking to establish specific programs to enhance leadership development on the campus and in the community.
Qualifications: The Circle must be an active Circle. At a minimum the applying Circle should subscribe to The Ο∆Κ® Idea, be initiating new members, paying all fees, and filing appropriate paperwork in accordance with established deadlines (including submission of Annual Reports and submission of membership forms and fees no less than 21 days prior to each initiation ceremony). Further documentation concerning the Circle's current activities is welcome.
Presently, the largest grant will be $500. Smaller grants may be requested. Circles that did not receive funding during the previous academic year will be given highest priority.
Funding for the Maurice A. Clay Leadership Development Initiative comes from interest earned on an Omicron Delta Kappa Foundation endowment set up for this purpose.
Those Circles who receive funding will be required to submit a complete report. This will include submission of receipts for all funded expenditures and an article (with photographs) about the project or program suitable for publication in The Circle®. Circles not submitting a complete report will be ineligible for future funding from the Clay Leadership Development Initiative.
Complete the application, in full, and submit it by November 1st to be considered for funding during the remainder of this academic year and through November of the following year. If you have questions, please contact the O∆K National Headquarters via awards@odk.org. The selection committee will notify all applicants by December 1st of each year.
______________________________________________________
Alfred University:
Alfred University will be facilitating an E-Board 101 training program for newly elected, student organization executive board members. The program was designed in 2009 by a former Omicron Delta Kappa member to help fine-tune the leadership skills of students within the various student organizations at Alfred University.
Florida Southern College:
Florida Southern College created OΔK Leadership Symposium, an event for high school students that includes a series of leadership workshops and guest speakers to help identify the students’ personal leadership skills, as well as to enhance these skills and to learn how they may apply these skills in real-world settings.
Furman University:
Furman University created the OΔK Challenge to Change to support the mission of a local non-profit organization “Just Kids.” The Circle will be hosting a holiday event for “Just Kids” helping the at-risk children to make gifts for their family members and using their leadership skills for great service.
Hampden-Sydney College:
Hampden-Sydney will use the grant to support the Hampden-Sydney College Cares for Kids program, where they hope to increase their current service involvement with the non-profit “Cares for Kids” by up to 10% of the total student body. The Circle hopes to incorporate active participation from Hampden-Sydney College students from all 5 phases of campus life.
Middle Tennessee State:
Middle Tennessee State created the OΔK’s True Blue Leadership Day, a series of workshop sessions to educate the students of Middle Tennessee State about various aspects of leadership, while also highlighting the university’s core values during the institution’s centennial kickoff.
Samford University:
Samford Univeristy has created the Samford OΔK Mentoring Program, where members of Samford’s Freshman Forum will be paired with OΔK members to help foster leadership potential in these high-achieving freshman students, as well as to raise awareness about OΔK.
2010 Clay Grant Recipients
In 2010 there were fourteen Circles that applied
for the six available grants. Below is a complete list of the 2010
Clay Grant recipients, along with their projects respectively:
Georgia Southern University: GSU established the Omicron Delta Kappa
Georgia Peach Summit in order to create relationships between circles
of Omicron Delta Kappa within the state of Georgia.
Moravian College: Moravian College created The First-year
Leadership Program, a two-part workshop series designed to prepare freshman
students to take on leadership roles within clubs and organizations on campus.
Shenandoah University: SU created a Collegiate Leadership Network to
foster collegiate leadership development and provide an outlet of networking
among local circles and area colleges and universities at Shenandoah
University.
SUNY Oswego: SUNY Oswego used the grant to continue their Take
the Lead project with 8th graders at Oswego Middle
School addressing low academic and social performance.
University of Georgia: UG created the Positive Press Initiative,
a program to support and inspire a campus-wide culture of leadership,
encouragement, and community impact.
United States Military Academy: The US Military Academy created two projects, Toys
for Tots, a toy drive with final presentation of the items they collect at
the nationally broadcasted 2011 Army/Navy game; and planning Hudson
Valley Special Olympics, in which they solicit support from the local
community and personally escort the athletes.
