Want to accelerate your growth as a leader? Leadership Praxis offers students a flexible pathway for maximizing their leadership learning by combining meaningful instruction and reflection with the leadership experiences students choose to pursue. It also provides students an opportunity to earn credit for leadership roles in extracurricular programs, organizations, and clubs. Ultimately, the pathway allows students to earn a leadership credential and build a portfolio, which not only commemorates this leadership journey but also helps students, and employers, fully recognize its significance.
Each step of the Leadership Praxis pathway provides students with multiple options for leadership enhancement.
Foundations
In the Foundations stage, students may choose to take HONR 299: Honors Leadership Retreat or HONR 299: Introduction to Leadership. While distinct in many ways, these courses provide students an entry point into their development that allows them to explore different approaches to leadership, define their own leadership identity, and clarify the commitments they want to pursue through their leadership.
Practice
In this second stage, students will take six credits worth of coursework connected with leadership experiences. Options include HONR 295: Honors Mentors, HONR 299: Science of Teamwork, and HONR 295: Leadership Praxis. HONR 295: Leadership Praxis is a three-credit, asynchronous course that students take in tandem with one or more leadership roles. Students will choose from a menu of course modules, allowing them to tailor the instruction they receive to their leadership experience. A portion of the course is designated as a leadership lab, which acknowledges time devoted to the leadership role as part of the course and thus allows students to receive credit for their participation in extracurricular organizations, programs, and clubs. Students may take the HONR 295: Leadership Praxis without pursuing the credential pathway.
Rumination
In the final stage, students will complete a John Martinson Honors College scholarly project or research thinking portfolio that focuses on their leadership experience. This provides students an opportunity to investigate different aspects of their leadership journey and further mine it for meaning and learning. The previous coursework will ensure that students are knowledgeable of relevant leadership principles, theories, and research< they can utilize for their scholarly project or portfolio. More information on the different options for completing the John Martinson Honors College scholarly project or research thinking portfolio can be found here.
Credential & Portfolio
Upon completing the Leadership Praxis pathway, students will earn a leadership credential to recognize their accomplishment. This credential can be included on resumes and professional profiles to signal to employers, and others, an extended pursuit of leadership learning and excellence. Through the program, students will also build a portfolio that details their experience, notable accomplishments, and development of leadership competencies. The portfolio helps students further clarify the importance of their leadership journey and prepares them to speak precisely and persuasively about the leadership skills they have acquired.
