Veteran actor Harry Waters Jr. has racked up some impressive credentials in his theatrical career, playing, for example, Chuck's cousin in the Robert Zemeckis film Back to the Future. Waters also was a regular on the Disney Channel series, Alice in Wonderland, and has made numerous guest appearances on other programs. He was an original cast member of Angels in America on the New York stage, and has performed in regional theater throughout California and Arizona, and elsewhere.

Waters is also a master of fine arts candidate in directing in the UW-Madison Department of Theatre and Drama. The role he takes most to heart these days is as an instructor and mentor to 18 students. His stage this time is a basic acting class, geared toward — but not limited to — undergraduate and high school students of color.

Debuting last year as part of the department's efforts to recruit more students of color, the special acting section has become an effective vehicle for students to develop their potential — as actors, scholars, leaders, and, most importantly, as human beings. Waters says that the 12 university undergraduates and six Madison high school students use the class to explore what sets them apart from other people, and what brings them together.

Indeed, the department has made it a point in the last few years to reach out to various racial and ethnic groups, through classes such as that taught by Waters and a teacher education course that meets at Madison's Bayview Community Center, through productions such as last year's Raisin in the Sun, and through making a particular effort to recruit quality faculty of color. Consequently, Waters hopes his own love for theater will take root in his students.

"I'd like to have at least some of them continue in the theater program here," he says.

Toward that end, he says, "I try to give the students a better sense of themselves, and the opportunity to invest in their own culturally specific material. I also want the class to help students develop the skills to make themselves and their work understood, and help them feel more self-confident.

"I get an immense sense of sharing out of this class," he adds. "I absolutely love doing what I do."

"As an educational institution, it is imperative that we strive to develop the full potential of all members of our faculty, staff, and student learning community. Now more than ever, we — as members of a global society — must harness the full human potential of our diverse populations to face the complex challenges of the future."

— Alicia F. Chávez, Dean of Students

• Leadership and learning are indispensable to one another, according to President John F. Kennedy. UW-Madison concurs wholeheartedly, offering programs such as the Leadership Institute, created to advance new skills of faculty, and academic and classified staff. Workshops also have been launched for new faculty on grant writing, tenure issues, and teaching and learning strategies. In addition, there are programs to assess and promote departmental effectiveness for administrators and support staff.

• Students can enhance their nascent leadership abilities in activities outside the classroom, such as getting involved in a service project through the UW-Madison Morgridge Center for Public Service or one of the seven learning communities on campus. Or they might join a student organization such as the Student Leadership Program. Students also can develop their potential by taking a formal class, perhaps the Leadership Symposium, offered through the Department of Sociology.

• Seven campus child-care centers provide high-quality care for young children, childhood education, and practical hands-on training for student teachers. While giving parents latitude to pursue jobs or education, the centers also explore brain and child development, making them full partners in UW-Madison's research mission.