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Build and lead a mock organization in this 2-week leadership academy for high school students on UT Austin’s campus.
Rated 4.1 out of 5 for classroom experience by students who took this course in 2026.
Course Description
Give an organization a mission, decide who does what, and see how the team works together. A meeting or a disagreement can reveal what an organizational chart leaves out.
In this course you will form a mock organization, choose its mission and values, assign executive and functional roles, and compare nonprofit, corporate, and startup structures. Build an organizational chart and work through a simulated communication breakdown. Short meetings let you try autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, and transformational leadership styles.
Creativity and innovation activities ask what the organization will create and why it matters. Design workplace rituals, propose a culture of belonging, and plan a team-building activity that reflects shared values. Motivation, team development, conflict, negotiation, ethics, and decision-making models offer ways to understand what happens when people work together.
Daily discussions, group assignments, guest perspectives, and reflection help you connect leadership ideas with the experience. Debate a values-based choice and explain your reasoning, then present your organization’s purpose, culture, structure, and lessons learned at the final showcase.
This two-week full-day academy for high school students takes place at UT Austin in Austin, Texas. Students focus on one intensive academy for the full program. Residential and commuter options are available. The program is developed by the University of Texas at Austin and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery.
What You Will Do
• Form a mock organization with a mission, values, roles, and structure
• Build an organizational chart and resolve a simulated communication breakdown
• Practice autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, and transformational leadership styles
• Design workplace culture, belonging, and team-building activities
• Debate an ethical challenge using decision and conflict-resolution models
• Pitch the organization’s purpose, culture, structure, and lessons learned
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Compare organizational structures, communication channels, and leadership styles
• Apply motivation, conflict-resolution, and ethical reasoning to team challenges
• Explain how purpose, culture, and roles affect an organization’s work
You’ll leave with your team’s organization model, final pitch and a certificate of completion.
Students receive a University of Texas branded certificate of completion at the end of the program.
Why Leadership Skills Matter
Leadership becomes meaningful when students can see how a decision changes communication, motivation, trust, or team performance. Comparing hierarchical and flat structures shows that roles and information flow affect what a group can accomplish. Practicing several leadership styles reveals why no single approach fits every situation.
Organizational behavior also strengthens collaboration and ethical judgment. Students must listen for conflict, explain values, negotiate responsibilities, and create conditions where people can contribute. These skills support group projects, clubs, student government, work, and future study in business or the social sciences. They help students move from simply holding a title to understanding how leadership is practiced.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
Leadership can interest you whether or not you already hold a title. This academy suits students curious about management, psychology, entrepreneurship, team dynamics, or workplace culture. Trying meeting styles, negotiating disagreements, taking team responsibilities, and presenting group decisions let you explore how influence works in practice.
A school transcript is required.
Your Summer at University of Texas at Austin
Studying on UT Austin’s Forty Acres campus gives high-school students a substantive introduction to academic life in Austin, Texas. Courses draw from popular undergraduate fields and Austin specialties. Full-day academies offer concentrated study, while classes across the program take place in campus classrooms and laboratories and may include guest speakers and fieldwork around Austin.
The experience extends beyond class for both residential and commuting students. Residential students live in Jester Hall, eat at J2, a popular campus dining hall, and take part in activities that may range from a star party at PMA to time at Gregory Gym, Zilker Park, South Congress, or an Austin FC match. Students gain independence, meet peers, and leave with a clearer view of college life, possible directions for future study, and what it can feel like to be a Longhorn.
UT Austin Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive