Community Leadership and Public Service
(Certificate Only)
Interdisciplinary undergraduate program
This interdisciplinary certificate program utilizes university courses offered in a variety of academic disciplines to provide a strong foundation and appropriate experiences for undergraduate students who plan to become community leaders and engage in public service—regardless of their profession—in the public, nonprofit or private sectors. The certificate will be awarded by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Completion of the certificate will be noted on the student's transcript and via a certificate provided by the Registrar.
Objectives
- Provide opportunities for students to learn about leadership and organizational theories, ethics and decision-making, principles of public service, effective communication, leadership practices in groups and organizations, and diversity issues.
- Develop leadership skills—including written and oral communication, creative thinking, personal management, group and organizational effectiveness, and problem-solving—important to students' careers, communities and personal development.
- Bring students into contact with faculty members from diverse academic departments, backgrounds and leadership experiences.
- Prepare students to undertake leadership roles in their careers and in service to their community through coursework and co-curricular activities.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the Certificate in Community Leadership and Public Service, students will:
- Demonstrate understanding of key concepts of leadership theories and effective practices within diverse groups, organizations and communities.
- Demonstrate understanding of key concepts of organizational theories, ethics and principles of public service.
- Demonstrate proficiencies in written and oral communication.
- Demonstrate awareness of cultural values and diversity issues as they pertain to community leadership and public service.
- Demonstrate engagement as citizens through service to their communities.
Requirements
The Certificate in Community Leadership and Public Service requires 21 credits. At least 9 credits must be taken in courses numbered at the 300 level or above. At least 9 credits used for the certificate cannot be used to meet any other department, college or university requirement for the baccalaureate degree except to satisfy the total credit requirement for graduation and to meet credit requirements in courses numbered 300 or above. Courses for the certificate cannot be taken pass-fail. A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 is required in courses taken for the certificate. The program requires the completion of 21 credit hours through three, three-hour required courses in leadership, speech communication and organizational theory. An additional 12 hours come from approved electives covering three hours in communication, six hours in leadership; and three hours of a capstone experience through a course, internship or study abroad experience. The capstone course should focus on the scholarship of leadership in the student's field of study whereas an internship or study abroad should provide a leadership-in-practice experience.
Core Courses: Choose nine credits from the following required core courses.
| LAS 322 | Leadership Styles and Strategies in a Diverse Society | 3 |
| SP CM 312 | Business and Professional Speaking | 3 |
| MGMT 371 | Organizational Behavior | 3 |
| or POL S 371 | Introduction to Public Administration | |
Communication Electives: Choose three credits from the following.
| COMST 214 | Professional Communication | 3 |
| COMST 310 | Intercultural Communication | 3 |
| COMST 314 | Organizational Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 302 | Business Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 309 | Report and Proposal Writing | 3 |
| JL MC 305 | Publicity Methods | 3 |
| SP CM 212 | Fundamentals of Public Speaking | 3 |
| SP CM 322 | Argumentation, Debate, and Critical Thinking | 3 |
| SP CM 323 | Gender and Communication | 3 |
| SP CM 327 | Persuasion | 3 |
| SP CM 412 | Rhetorical Criticism | 3 |
Leadership Electives: Choose six credits from the following.
| AESHM 287 | Principles of Management in Human Sciences | 3 |
| AESHM 379 | Community Leadership: Examination of Social Issues | 3 |
| A E/C E/E E/M E/MAT E 388 | Sustainable Engineering and International Development | 3 |
| AGEDS 315 | Personal, Professional, and Entrepreneurial Leadership in Agriculture | 3 |
| C E 306 | Project Management for Civil Engineers | 3 |
| COMST 218 | Conflict Management | 3 |
| COMST 317 | Small Group Communication | 3 |
| C R P 291 | World Cities and Globalization | 3 |
| C R P 293 | Environmental Planning | 3 |
| C R P 425 | Growth Management | 3 |
| C R P 429 | International Planning | 3 |
| C R P 435 | Planning in Small Towns | 3 |
| C R P 475 | Grant Writing | 1 |
| C R P 481 | Regional and State Planning | 3 |
| C R P 484 | Sustainable Communities | 3 |
| C R P 491 | Environmental Law and Planning | 3 |
| C R P 492 | Planning Law, Administration and Implementation | 3 |
| CON E 380 | Engineering Law | 3 |
| ENGR 150 | Foundations of Leadership Development and Learning | 1 |
| ENGR 350 | Dean's Leadership Seminar | 1 |
| HD FS 395 | Children, Families, and Public Policy | 3 |
| HIST 488 | American Stuff, Colonial Times to the Present | 3 |
| I E 570 | Systems Engineering and Project Management | 3 |
| LAS 170 | Leadership ISU | 1 |
| M E 412 | Ethical Responsibilities of a Practicing Engineer | 3 |
| MGMT 370 | Management of Organizations | 3 |
| MGMT 371 | Organizational Behavior | 3 |
| MGMT 419 | Social Responsibility of Business | 3 |
| MGMT 472 | Management of Diversity | 3 |
| NREM/AER E/CON E/FS HN/HORT 112 | Orientation to Learning and Productive Team Membership | 2 |
| NREM/CON E/FS HN/HORT 114 | Developing Responsible Learners and Effective Leaders | 2 |
| PHIL 235 | Ethical Issues in A Diverse Society | 3 |
| POL S 310 | State and Local Government | 3 |
| POL S 311 | Municipal Government and Politics | 3 |
| POL S 344 | Public Policy | 3 |
| POL S/W S 385 | Women in Politics | 3 |
| POL S 413 | Intergovernmental Relations | 3 |
| POL S 477 | Government, Business, and Society | 3 |
| POL S 480 | Ethics and Public Policy | 3 |
| POL S 487 | Electronic Democracy | 3 |
| SOC 310 | Community | 3 |
| SOC 334 | Politics and Society | 3 |
| SOC 420 | Complex Organizations | 3 |
| SOC 435 | Urban Society | 3 |
| SP CM 416 | History of American Public Address | 3 |
| SP CM/POL S 417 | Campaign Rhetoric | 3 |
| W S 301 | International Perspectives on Women and Gender | 3 |
| W S 333 | Women and Leadership | 3 |
| W S 435 | Women and Development | 3 |
| W S 488 | Interdisciplinary Research on Women and Leadership | 3 |
Capstone Courses: Choose three credits of the following for a capstone elective or complete an approved internship or study abroad experience.
| AESHM 421 | Developing Global Leadership: Maximizing Human Potential | 3 |
| COMST 404 | Research Seminar (404C Small Group Communication and 404D Organizational Communication) | 3 |
| C R P 432 | Community Planning Studio II | 6 |
| ENGL 418 | Seminar in Argumentation | 3 |
| ENGR 490L | Independent Study | 1-3 |
| HD FS 449 | Program Evaluation and Proposal Writing | 3 |
| LAS 490G | 1-3 | |
| LAS 491 | Service Learning | 1-4 |
| LAS 499 | Internship | 1-4 |
| M E/WLC 484 | Technology, Globalization and Culture | 3 |
| POL S 475 | Management in the Public Sector | 3 |
| PSYCH 450 | Industrial Psychology | 3 |
| SOC 464 | Strategies for Community Engagement | 3 |
| W S 488 | Interdisciplinary Research on Women and Leadership | 3 |
| W S 491 | Senior Internship | 3 |
For more information contact the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, 309 Catt Hall, 515-294-3181, leadprgm@iastate.edu , or visit www.las.iastate.edu/CattCenter/Leadership/ .
