Real world leadership requires a constellation of knowledge and skills that includes but is certainly not limited to: managing oneself, coordinating the work of groups, acting with integrity, communicating effectively, and leveraging benefits of diverse ways of thinking and acting.
Overview, Requirements, and Background
Overview
As of Fall 2015, the coursework for the Certificate for Leadership Studies will include 2 core courses - Perspectives on Leadership: Principles and Practices and Leadership Theory to practice which utilize a multi-disciplinary approach to studying leadership (all students will take); additional electives focused on the following areas: self leadership, group leadership, ethics and integrity, cultural competency, and communication; and an experiential learning component.
Clearly no single academic discipline and no one unit within the University can adequately cover all of these topics. For this reason, the Certificate in Leadership Studies will be coordinated by a multi-disciplinary committee composed of faculty from the Colleges of Business, Education, and Liberal Arts & Sciences, and is administered by the Pomerantz Career Center. The Certificate in Leadership Studies is housed in University College under the Leadership Studies Department (LS).
Requirements
Depending on when you declared the certificate, a total of 20-21 hours of coursework is required to earn the Certificate in Leadership Studies: Up to two, 3-hour core interdisciplinary courses, 12-15 hours of area electives (in self-leadership and group leadership, communication, cultural competency, and ethics and integrity), and 2-3 hours of experiential learning. Each requirement is explained in the general catalog.
Background
The Certificate in Leadership Studies is available to students admitted to the University of Iowa, regardless of major, who are not concurrently enrolled in a UI graduate or professional degree program.
The certificate offers students access to an integrated curricular and co-curricular, multi-disciplinary experience that challenges them to take on more responsibility for themselves and their communities.
The certificate will provide a structure for involvement, introducing students to the concepts of leadership while giving them the necessary, hands-on leadership experiences to begin the life-long development of these skills.
Certainly one certificate cannot create leaders, but it can provide incentive for that first leadership experience and an academic understanding of how and why leadership is important. By earning a certificate, students are introduced to these basic goals and skills and are called on to make a conscious commitment to lead.
Policies & Advising
Policies
- The certificate may be earned by any student admitted to the University of Iowa who is not concurrently enrolled in a UI graduate or professional degree program.
- Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in work for the certificate.
- Students must declare their intention to pursue the certificate on MyUI.
- A maximum of 6 s.h. of approved transfer credit may be counted toward the certificate. Transfer credit must be approved by the home department or college.
- A course may not be used to satisfy more than one certificate requirement.
- Students who want to enroll in LS:3011 to satisfy the experiential learning requirement for the Certificate in Leadership Studies must consult with Anat Levtov in advance of registration to verify whether their experience will qualify for enrollment in the course.
- When students complete the certificate requirements and graduate, the Certificate in Leadership Studies is noted on their transcript.
- Certificate in Leadership Studies courses may be used to satisfy major or minor requirements.
Advising
Advising services will be provided by the Pomerantz Career Center. Please schedule an appointment with a Certificate in Leadership Studies advisor via MyUI:
- On the MyUI homepage, click on the "advising appointment" tile.
- Next, select "New Appointment with My Advisor" and click "schedule appointment."
- Click on "select advisor" and choose "Anat Levtov."
- From there you will be able to select the date, time, and format (in person or phone). In person appointments are located in the Pomerantz Career Center, third floor, Pomerantz Center.
If Anat Levtov does not appear as an option for scheduling, or if none of the times available work for you, please email.
Planning Checklist
1. Review the coursework
Review the coursework for the certificate, including requirements and elective options, in the General Catalog.
When planning, make note of any course restrictions and requirements as well as the semester(s) the course is typically offered by checking MyUI.
2. Declare that you are pursuing the Certificate in Leadership Studies on MyUI
- Go to MyUI and click on the "programs of study" tile.
- If you are entering your first semester at the University of Iowa, the system will not allow you to declare the certificate until the first day of the semester. Contact the advisor for the Certificate in Leadership Studies with any questions or concerns.
3. Schedule the required initial advising appointment
Schedule the required initial advising appointment (via MyUI) to review your plan of study with Anat Levtov, the advisor for the Certificate in Leadership Studies. Bring the list of courses you have determined you would like to take for each of the elective categories of the certificate (see step 1 above), along with any questions you have regarding the certificate.
- On the MyUI homepage, click on the "advising appointment" tile.
- Next, select "new appointment with my advisor" and click "schedule appointment."
- Click on "select advisor" and choose "Anat Levtov"
- From there you will be able to select the date, time, and format (in person or phone). In person appointments are located in the Pomerantz Career Center, third floor, Pomerantz Center.
If Anat Levtov does not appear as an option for scheduling, or if none of the times available work for you, please email.
4. Register and complete the required core courses
Register for and successfully complete the required core courses.
5. Complete additional academic electives
Complete the additional academic electives. To request a substitute course to be considered by the faculty advisory committee, please follow the course substitution guidelines:
All course substitution proposals must include the following:
- Name of student, ID number, major(s), and hours completed
- Name of credit granting institution (if course is a transfer course)
- Name of professor teaching the course (if course is a transfer course)
- Number of credit hours requested (if course is a transfer course)
- A narrative explaining why the proposed course should be included in the plan of study. If the student is requesting the course as a substitute for an existing Leadership Certificate course, he/she must specify how the two courses are equal. If the student is requesting that a course be added as a new choice, he/she must identify how the change will improve the student’s academic goals.
- A syllabus of the proposed course
- Any other material valuable to the Leadership Certificate Advisory Committee in making their decision
Any proposal that does not include the above requirements will not be reviewed.
Note:
- Certain programs and majors restrict registration in some of their courses to students who have been admitted to those programs or majors. Therefore a student proposing a course substitution must first make sure they can in fact register for that course.
- While not required, a letter of support from a faculty member would be helpful to the Advisory Committee in their deliberations. This letter should reflect that it is the faculty member’s opinion that the proposed course be viewed as an appropriate substitution for another course and/or matches a student’s academic goals.
Course proposals are due the last Friday in September and the last Friday in February. Course substitutions are reviewed by the Advisory Committee once each semester.
6. Complete the experiential learning requirement
Complete the experiential learning requirement. More information on the options for the experiential learning requirement can be found in the general catalog
7. Request a certificate degree audit through MyUI
Monitor your progress and eventual completion of the certificate by requesting and reviewing your certificate degree audit through MyUI. Click on the "degree audit" tile on MyUI, then select "declared program of study" and choose "Leadership Studies Certificate." Contact the advisor for the Certificate in Leadership Studies with any questions or concerns.
