Petition Guidelines for substitution of coursework for the Leadership Studies Minor (LSM)

The selection of LSM electives is designed to facilitate a student’s ability to apply the modes of intellectual inquiry and knowledge bases of many disciplines to the study and practice of leadership. All courses accepted must meet certain criteria. To petition a course substitution for the minor, at least 1/3 of the course grade must be based on work in one of the following categories.

Leadership Foundations -

  • Moral and ethical reasoning – what is involved in making real-life ethical choices?  

  •  Examples include:

    •  Identify ethical issues and apply ethical reasoning to real-world situations.

    •  Improve the ability to critically evaluate behavior

    • Makes explicit and clear identification of ethical content and how it engages students in ethical reasoning.

    •  Improves decision-making life choices

    •  Helps students learn to think critically and apply values to situations involving ethical decision making

    •  Opportunities to take initiative to encourage ethical action or discourage unethical action

Leadership Application

  • Functioning in a team – what skills are needed to build a team and work to accomplish a shared goal?

  •  Examples include:

    • Building a team with diverse perspectives

    • Leading a team effectively to accomplish a shared goal

    • Learning objectives around understanding the dynamics of a team

    • Demonstrate techniques to working together effectively.

    • Learn phases of team building and leadership roles

    • Develop effective communication skills specific to working as a team 

    • Planning objectives and strategies as a group

Leadership Context

  • Historical and situational analysis of leadership

  • Examples include:

    • Critical evaluation of historical and contemporary leaders

    • Ability to connect leadership behaviors to organizational outcomes

    • Evaluate existing programs and direct processes for change where needed

    • Link leadership theory to effective application in real-world scenarios

    • Understand the interplay of changing contextual factors on leadership

    • Explore factors that lead to and maintain marginalization in the US

To complete the next step of this process, the student must submit a copy of the course syllabus and a detailed justification for the request to the LSM Program Director- Kira Pasquesi. The director will determine if the class meets the criteria and will notify the student via email of the decision for approval.