Franke Honors Civic Leadership Certificate
Prepare yourself for leadership in government, the community, the private sector, and your future profession.
Civic engagement is a keystone of democracy.
Civic leaders are characterized by their ability to inspire others, be good stewards of the public trust, serve and empower others, build commitments, and mobilize citizens to collaborate and work toward better organizations, communities, and societies. The Franke Honors Civic Leadership certificate is designed to engage a new generation of leaders who identify, analyze, and attempt to solve critical public issues through collaborative action.
By combining academic coursework with service and experiential learning, the Honors Civic Leadership Certificate will help you develop skills related to communication, moral reasoning, and problem solving — abilities that are essential to being an ethical and effective leader in the 21st century. This program will prepare you for a lifetime of effective and ethical leadership in politics, your local community, and your profession.
This certificate is open to all majors, and courses in this program can also count as credits toward the Leadership and Learning Innovation major associated with the College of Education.
Students must complete 12 honors units to earn their certificate. Those include:
- Two required courses (3 units each)
- One elective course (3 units)
- A Leadership Experience, completed by enrolling in a total of 3 credits of HNRS 393H (3 units)
These requirements can be completed in any order and at any stage of a student’s undergraduate education. However, due to the schedule of course offerings, it is recommended that students begin the certificate program no later than the fall semester of their junior year.
Required Courses:
HNRS 320: Ethical Leadership
Typically offered in the Fall
Engage with scholarship in leadership studies and moral philosophy to learn how to be an ethical leader in an array of social and professional contexts.
HNRS 335: Leadership: Building and Nourishing a Community
Typically offered in the Spring
Work with a non-profit organization to grow your leadership skills and learn about how community and local change occurs.
Elective Courses (choose 1):
HNRS 215: Leadership for the Common Good
Discover leadership in the context of shared-power and how shared vision, mobilization, and policy change are created.
HNRS 336: Leadership in Organizations
Learn about what makes leaders most effective in organizational settings.
Leadership Experience:
The leadership experience is an opportunity for students to participate in a leadership role for program credit or to work in a context that helps them develop crucial leadership skills such as written communication, oral communication, adaptability, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, digital literacy, and problem solving. The leadership experience can be completed in many ways but generally involves about 135 hours of total work (45 hours per credit hour received). This requirement can be completed across multiple semesters.
Since the certificate’s inception, students have completed their leadership experience through the PATH Mentorship program, holding leadership positions in student organizations like Honors Student Council and Nepantla, completing an Honors-sponsored CIELO experience along with an associated online course, and completing internships through their major. However, this is not an exhaustive list of how this requirement could be completed. If you are looking to enroll in HNRS 393H, please talk to your Franke Honors Advisor about how to enroll and be prepared to describe what you plan to do to fulfill this requirement.
Questions about enrolling in the Civic Leadership Certificate?
Contact your Franke Honors Advisor or reach out to Program Director Trevor Hedberg.