Strand 1: Public Education Policy Processes, Issues and Key Practitioners

This strand maps out the policy process and focuses on contemporary issues or policy initiatives. Examples are school finance reform, gubernatorial transition, employment and economic expansion issues, and government restructuring. This strand gives Fellows a strong sense of how these issues are addressed in the public arena, by the media and how they connect with other policy issues. This strand also connects Fellows with leading policymakers. Speakers include elected officials, agency heads and staff, leaders from special interest or advocacy groups, academics, and other public policy and corporate leaders. Through interactions with these practitioners, Fellows gain insight into the strategies these individuals use to foster their issues or agendas, and they learn the qualities necessary to lead organizations and individuals toward their vision.

Strand 2: Leadership and Skill Development

This strand focuses on development of collaborative skills for leadership in the 21st century. Fellows benefit from assessments to identify personal preferences and styles, and from simulations and experiential activities to examine how different styles and behaviors conflict with individual and organizational goals. Group discussions incorporate these skills into the Fellows work experience.

Strand 3: Networking

This strand focuses on making connections between Fellows and their counterparts in the other state sites. In addition, efforts are made to connect current Fellows with South Carolina’s future alumni network. An annual South Carolina alumni seminar or reception helps expand the Fellows’ circle of professional contacts. A national alumni network of over 5,000 extends this network to an impressive set of resources across the country. Through alumni activities and the two national conferences, attempts are made to initiate and sustain these connections. It is especially in this networking strand where one to one, one to many, and many to many electronic communication strategies are, and can be employed.

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Program Format

The South Carolina EPFP is designed around three major program strands - Public Policy Processes, Leadership and Skill Development, and Networking. Each of the monthly seminars and meetings are designed to address one or more of the program strands. The EPFP utilizes the delivery formats described below to examine the policy making process and the work of leaders. In addition, the EPFP participants use on-line communication tools to stay connected between the monthly seminars and to support their collaborative work.

Monthly Seminars

Through on-site seminars, workshops and experiential activities, the Fellows meet with government leaders, decision-makers, policy analysts, academic experts and noted authorities from a variety of policy arenas to explore questions about public policy formation. The seminars also provide a forum for discussing current and emerging policy issues. Another component of the EPFP is the use of individual and team development tools designed to assess and strengthen leadership styles and skills. The information received at the monthly EPFP seminars is transferable to the Fellow's work environments, with the goal of enhancing their professional endeavors. See the current and past program information sections for specifics on these seminars.

Learning Teams

Each Fellow participates on a learning team that is created around their learning priorities and objectives. The learning teams are comprised of 4-6 members and they attempt to represent the diversity of the program's participants. The learning teams work as cross boundary groups to explore topics of mutual interest. Each learning team is responsible for developing a seminar presentation during the program year. The learning teams use multiple presentation formats, resources and learning styles to address the topic or theme selected by the group's members. Participation on a learning team provides enhanced networking opportunities and the development of collaborative skills.

National Meetings

Fellows participate in two national meetings during their Fellowship year that help to build diverse learning communities at each state site, and among Fellows across all national program sites. Attendance at both national meetings is required.

• Leadership Forum - The Leadership Forum features experiential training activities which provide Fellows with opportunities to learn about leadership issues, and about themselves as part of the leadership equation. This conference utilizes a variety of connected learning opportunities to heighten the participant's understanding of the leader's work from multiple vantage points.

• Washington Policy Seminar - The Washington Policy Seminar is a sophisticated civics class that provides an up-close view of how things work in the nation's capital. Fellows gain insights into the people, processes, and institutions which shape national policy, and begin to understand how what happens at the national level intersects or collides with the policy systems and actions at the state and
  local levels.

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Sponsors of Fellows

Charleston County School District
Charleston Education Network
Dorchester School District
Florence School District One
Johnson Controls, Inc.
Kershaw County Schools
Lexington School District Two
Orangeburg - Calhoun Technical College
Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five
Richland School District One
South Carolina Department of Education
South Carolina Education Oversight Committee
South Carolina Office of First Steps
South Carolina State University
The Alliance for SC's Children
The School District of Greenville County
The Springs Close Foundation
York School District #3

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