Following a successful site visit from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in April 2025, Georgia Tech’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Leaders in Progress and Service, has moved from concept to implementation. This accreditation milestone marked a major achievement and set the stage for a five-year journey to bring the vision to life.
Recognizing Leaders in Progress and Service
As Georgia Tech’s newest signature initiative, Leaders in Progress and Service helps students grow as changemakers at the intersection of technology and the human condition and offers a new pathway for earning a graduation distinction — alongside traditional academic honors — that will appear on their diplomas as “Leader in Progress and Service.” The distinction demonstrates how deeply Georgia Tech values students’ contributions to addressing the world’s most complex problems and their development as self-aware, reflective professionals.
“We are excited to make Georgia Tech’s commitment to our motto a central part of our undergraduate experience,” said Roberta Berry, QEP coordinator and associate vice provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success.
To earn the distinction, students must complete a structured sequence of learning and reflection that shows their advanced achievement as future Leaders in Progress and Service.
The Foundational Course: Building a Framework for Impact
Progress toward the distinction begins with a foundational course that introduces students to complex problem definition and professional identity development. Students learn to integrate multiple perspectives when defining challenges, and they reflect on their strengths, values, and the kinds of leaders they aspire to become.
For Emiko Jones, a business administration major, taking the foundational course was transformative. “It was a framework for thinking more deeply about how to create real, lasting impact,” she said, noting how her experience reshaped her sense of purpose. “I have learned more about myself, my ambitions, and what I want to do in the Progress and Service Forum than in any other class.”
Experiences like Jones’ are possible in part because the course is designed with flexibility in mind. While central versions of the foundational course are offered as GT 2030: Progress and Service Forum, Colleges and Schools can also customize foundational courses to fit their students’ needs, ensuring the program feels relevant across disciplines. For example, the Explore Living Learning Community (LLC) in the College of Sciences is developing its own version of the foundational course, Civil Engineering has aligned an existing course (CEE 1090) with the program — enrolling more than 100 students in Fall 2025 — and the John H. Martinson Honors Program is redesigning its curriculum around Leaders in Progress and Service. Many other Colleges and Schools are also developing tailored foundational courses to serve their student populations.
Activities in the foundational course encourage students to reflect on their strengths, values, and the kinds of leaders they aspire to become.
Immersive Learning: Turning Insight into Action
After completing the foundational course, students move into immersive learning experiences that align with their interests and goals, such as study abroad, undergraduate research, Create-X, Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) teams, internships, and other experiences that students may propose. To help students connect these experiences back to the concepts introduced in the foundational course, Leaders in Progress and Service provides mentoring and structured reflection through immersive learning mentoring cohorts. Four students participated in the pilot immersive learning cohort in Fall 2025, led by the Leaders in Progress and Service Faculty Director, Chad Slieper.
As the number of students pursuing the distinction increases, faculty and staff will play an essential role in making these immersive learning experiences and the mentoring cohorts more meaningful. A community of Progress and Service Mentoring Fellows is being developed and will guide students in connecting classroom learning with real-world impact and reflecting on their professional growth. For Jones, her involvement in immersive learning included co-founding Plates Aplenty, a nonprofit focused on reducing food waste. “Being a Leader in Progress and Service takes intention and effort,” she explained. “It is a mindset that we can use in every professional decision and interaction.”
The Summit: Where Vision Meets Action
The final step in pursuing the distinction will be participation in the Progress and Service Summit, a new campuswide event that will being together students, faculty, and prominent leaders to explore solutions to some of society’s most critical issues. At the summit, students will present their work to the broader community and demonstrate how their actions as professionals can shape the world.
Why it Matters
Leaders in Progress and Service aligns with the Institute’s Strategic Plan, addressing a long-standing need to help students understand their professional identities and societal impact. By integrating seamlessly into existing experiential learning programs, it offers a unified framework for growth, leadership, and purpose, preparing graduates with growth habits and a long-term commitment to progress and service.
“Georgia Tech graduates are already impressive, with incredible contributions to make,” noted Slieper. “But the students who achieve this distinction will stand out as true leaders — the ones who envision change in bold, meaningful ways.”
Discover how students can become Leaders in Progress and Service and how faculty and staff can get involved by visiting the Leaders in Progress and Service website.