ORIENTATION:
During the third week of August, ELSP students are required to participate in a week-long summer orientation program designed to introduce the ELSP mission and vision, as well as the fundamentals of professional behavior and civic responsibility. Training sessions will focus on such subjects as public speaking, networking, team building, advocacy writing, project management, professionalism, and much more.

CURRICULUM:
While ELSP students can choose any major, all scholars participate in a common curriculum designed to prepare them for their leadership roles in their careers and in the region. 

Each Spring, all ELSP students are required take MGMT 3600: Leadership in Action on Friday afternoons at the Atlantic City campus.

INTERNSHIP:

Stockton is committed to experiential learning that connects classroom experiences to broader opportunities and enables students to practice key management and leadership skills. Students also gain an understanding about how to work in teams, and how to lead within organizations to achieve social good.  These positions are carefully selected to individually place students in their field of choice with select for-profit and non-profit entities, as well as municipal government. The goal is to create direct access to current Atlantic City influencers and create the next generation of such leaders.

Internships are organized in the summers following your sophomore and junior years. ELSP students have completed internships with the following organizations:

• AtlantiCare
• Atlantic City Arts Foundation
• Atlantic City Office of the Mayor
• Atlantic City Police Department
• Atlantic City Public Library
• Atlantic County Superintendant of Elections
• Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City
• City of Atlantic City Business Administrator
• City of Atlantic City Information Technology
• Museum of Cape May County
• Stockton University Division of Finance and Administration
• Stockton University Speech and Hearing Clinic

• US National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) Program

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES:
University coursework is complemented by co-curricular seminars and workshops in personal and professional development, a monthly set of programs ranging from roundtable discussions, invited lectures (by both campus and off-campus experts), field trips to local businesses, governmental offices, and cultural venues, personal coaching, mock interview, and resume development sessions. These opportunities are intended to both introduce students to the local business and civic landscape, as well as introduce local entrepreneurs and leaders to ELSP students and their potential. The series includes opportunities to develop and apply quantitative and qualitative knowledge, interpersonal skills, and techniques to manage projects in a wide range of fields and occupations, with particular attention to critical thinking, project planning, teamwork, risk management, cost and time management, and decision making.

ELSP scholars have met with representatives from the following organizations:

• AtlantiCare
• Atlantic Cape Community College
• Atlantic City Arts Foundation
• Atlantic City Development Corporation (ACDEVCO)
• Atlantic City Initiatives Project Office
• Atlantic City Sheriff's Office
• Atlantic County Chamber of Commerce
• Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office
• Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind
• Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City
• Casino Reinvestment Development Authority
• Caesars
• Chelsea EDC
• Covenant House
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Hard Rock
• Homeland Security
• Law Offices of Cooper Levenson
• The Mayor of Atlantic City
• Meet AC
• New Jersey Small Development Center
• Resorts Atlantic City
• South Jersey Industries
• Steel Pier

CAPSTONE PROJECT

The culmination of both classroom and co-curricular learning is a collaborative capstone project in which ELSP students work together to practice key management and leadership skills in their final MGMT 3600 Leadership in Action course. This work offers students valuable insights in weighing competing ideas and how to lead within organizations to achieve social good and economic success and contribute to the improvement of the Atlantic City community.

 

COHORT 1 (2022): Atlantic City has lower rates of income per capita as well as lower literacy rates and test scores compared to the country and state. The purpose of this capstone was to look at these issues and recommend a remedy. The end result was an after-school literacy program developed in partnership with the Salvation Army of Atlantic City.

 

 

 

 

 

COHORT 2 (2023): Atlantic City has a significant immigrant population, many of who face challenges because of their non-citizen status. The focus of this capstone was to work with Stockton's Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning and Local 54, the union representing most of the city's hospitality workers, to identify barriers to naturalization.

 

 

 

COHORT 3 (2024): Cohort 3 collaborated with AtlantiCare and the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) to gather information to better understand patients' perspectives on COVID-19 prevention, treatment, and management, particularly within minority communities. The findings developed through this project can serve as a blueprint for future interventions to reduce health disparities across various healthcare settings and racial/ethnic groups.

 

 

COHORT 4 (2025): To help mitigate the gap in career awareness for economically disadvantaged youth in Atlantic City, Cohort 4 created an event entitled “Hidden Horizons: Discover Uncommon Careers as part of their capstone project. The students partnered with Goals Gear Up, a program at Stockton University that serves students in grades 7 through 12 that focuses on underrepresented students of Atlantic City and Pleasantville communities to determine if early exposure to uncommon careers can help reduce the economic inequality in these communities.