While maintaining high standards of classroom teaching, the Jepson School program incorporates experiential learning. Classroom exercises and simulations offer students an opportunity to acquire feedback about heir efforts to learn and lead students to reflect upon their behavior, their interactions with others, and the dynamics of social groups. Students have opportunities to interact with leaders from many settings through a vigorous lecture and visiting scholar series. Participation in internship programs and other learning experiences here, elsewhere in the United States and even abroad exposes students to the daily tasks and decision-making processes of leaders. Seminars make use of reflection and discussion to integrate the student's practical experiences and observations with theories and research about leadership.
All classes combine theory with practice so that students gain a sense of leadership as praxis.
The faculty of the Jepson School believes that actively engaging the realities of leadership as it is practiced throughout our society can both enrich and enlarge our ability to teach. Through research and consulting we insure that what we teach is both sound and relevant. We are dedicated to advancing the field of leadership studies by building upon and critically evaluating existing theoretical, research-based, and practical knowledge. Since it is the first school of leadership in the country, the Jepson School has an obligation to serve as an exemplar and resource for other schools. As a center of leadership studies, the Jepson School will forge ties with other leadership programs and coordinate cooperative projects with scholars within and outside the University of Richmond.