Leadership Certificate Program Requirements

The Leadership Certificate will be awarded to students who:

• Complete the core course, Foundations of Leadership (Psy 360), with a grade of “B” or better. 
• Complete 4 additional courses from the list of approved courses (see below) and achieve a “B” average or better across the 4        classes. At least three of the four courses must be 4-credit courses. These courses must be taken on the Oxford College campus. AP credit, IB credit, and courses taken on campuses other than Oxford may not be substituted for these classes. Appeals for exceptions should be directed to the Program Coordinators.   
• Participate in Leadership Oxford (LO) or Experience in Cultivating Excellence in Leadership (ExCEL).  LO is a spring semester experiential leadership program for first year students and ExCel is a fall semester program for sophomores.  Both programs are designed to assist students in raising their consciousness of individual and group leadership values as well as challenging them to develop problem-solving skills in a group setting.  (Students who are unable to participate in either may appeal to the leadership coordinators for an alternative assignment.).
• Serve in a student leadership role that involves the following:
  
  
  • A considerable commitment of time
  • Independent thinking and decision-making
  • Ongoing mentoring or supervision by a faculty or staff advisor and
  • Emphasis on service or social responsibility

These roles might include but are not limited to the following: RA, PAL, SGA executive, VOC, SAA Coordinator, Honor Council Chair, Conduct Council Solicitor. (Other leadership roles that may meet these requirements will be evaluated by the Leadership Program Coordinators.).

• Participate in 20 hours of service learning/volunteer activities. At least half of these hours must be spent in official Oxford-sponsored activities. Documentation is required for volunteer activity performed elsewhere. All volunteer service must be completed no later than 4 weeks before the last day of class.
• Submit a Leadership Portfolio. The portfolio must be submitted no later than 4 weeks before the last day of class and should include:
  1. A description of your leadership role(s), responsibilities, and contributions (no more than 1 page double spaced)
  2. Supporting letters from faculty, staff, or fellow students describing your leadership contributions. You need to submit 3 letters, one of which must be from a faculty or staff member. A recommendation form can be downloaded from our Leadership Certificate web site.
  3. A summary essay reflecting on your leadership. This essay, the cornerstone of the leadership portfolio, must reflect a careful, coherent, and thoughtful reflection on your leadership experiences. The essay should address what you have learned from your leadership training (e.g., LO, EXCEL, RA training, etc.), leadership experiences, and your coursework. The Program Coordinators will reject essays which are superficial or cursory responses to the summary essay questions. Although there is no required length, essays  responses should be long enough to sufficiently answer the questions and should be spell-checked before submitting.

This year, students will address the following questions for their summary essay:

1. Describe how your ideas of leadership have changed. If they have not changed, explain why.
2. Explain specifically, what you have learned from your leadership training, experiences and coursework.

Students, who complete the requirements as listed above, and maintain an overall G.P.A. of 2.5 or better, will receive upon graduating from Oxford, a Leadership Certificate.

Curricular Offerings in Leadership

The following courses are those which devote 5 classroom hours or more to leadership issues.

Anthropology

101 Introductory Anthropology
324/WS 340 Anthropology of Women/ Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective
385 Social Movements: Theory and Practice

Economics

101 Microeconomics
112 Macroeconomics

History

231 Foundations of American Society: Beginnings to 1877
232 The Making of Modern America: U.S. since 1877
244 American Civil Rights History
348 The South in American History
Math
Math 207 Probability and Statistics

Philosophy

115 Introduction to Ethics

Political Science

100 National Politics in the U.S.
101 Introduction to Politics
110 – Introduction to International Politics
252 – Individual Liberties and the Constitution
301 – Classical Political Thought
303 - American Political Thought to 1912
306 – Human Nature from the Feminine Perspective
352 - Constitutional Law

Physical Education and Dance

130 – Stress Management
132 – Outdoor Connection

Psychology

100 – Introductory Psychology
208 - Psychology of Women (WS 305)
212 - Social Psychology
360 – Foundations of Leadership (Core course in Leadership Studies)
312 – Psychological Conceptions of Giftedness

Sociology

101 - Introduction to Sociology (McQuaide)
215N -  Social Problems

Women’s Studies

100 - Introduction to Women’s Studies
305 - Psychology of Women