Certify Your Program or Course as an Affiliate Leadership Program
The Office of Leadership Programs maintains institution-wide responsibility for management, coordination, and development of all Georgia College leadership programs and initiatives. Beyond Georgia College's Leadership Program, our staff works collaboratively with members of the faculty and staff to develop affiliate leadership programs. Affiliate leadership programs are courses and student programs that engage with leadership, including citizenship, democracy, and public affairs, and have as their goal developing students as citizens and leaders for the public good.
Through a progressive and scaffolded framework, all Georgia College students who take part in a GCSU leadership program will benefit from a common set of core leadership competencies, integrated through all of Georgia College's leadership-related courses and programs and common reflective experiences that advance our Research & Public Service Priorities.
Step 1. Identify Opportunities
The Office of Leadership Programs works collaboratively with members of the faculty and staff—providing resources, support, and advocacy for leadership development opportunities at Georgia College. Consider: Could your program or course . . .
- Engage with leadership-related topics—broadly conceived? That could include citizenship, democracy, and public affairs?
- Have a goal of developing students as leaders and citizens?
- Benefit from meaningful engagement with leadership development?
As with each of the GC Journeys “transformative learning experiences,” students must use an established programmatic vehicle to satisfy their “intensive leadership programs” requirements. A broad range of Georgia College’s curricular and programmatic offerings will comprise that GC Journeys experience. Proposals for certification as a “transformative experience” will come from the faculty or staff member who oversees and administers the course or program.
For a partner in identifying opportunities, please contact Chelsey Brantley, assistant director of leadership programs.
Step 2. Brainstorm and Consult
The Office of Leadership Programs will:
- Offer consulting and collaboration to university programs, courses, and initiatives interested in leadership development.
- Support faculty and staff members drafting certification proposals, helping them to identify measurable outcomes that can be documented and reported for assessment and accreditation purposes.
- Support faculty and staff members, helping them to integrate LEAP High-Impact Education Practices into leadership-development opportunities.
- Evaluate proposals from university programs and courses seeking certification.
- Work with the Offices of Institutional Effectiveness and the Registrar to tag approved leadership courses and experiences in students' academic records.
Step 3. Prepare a Certification Proposal
Proposals for certification will address the following criteria:
- Proposals should detail the terms of satisfactory and unsatisfactory completion of the experience. E.g., in academic courses, successful completion would be determined by earning a passing final grade in the course.
- Proposals should account for how the program integrates each of Georgia College’s core leadership competencies into the students’ learning experience.
- Proposals should provide for at least two student assignments, reflective experiences, or learning artifacts that advance our Research & Public Service Priorities.
Such proposals are received and evaluated by the Office of Leadership Programs. The director of leadership programs will offer a recommendation to the Leadership Faculty Advisory Committee, which will determine if the program meets institutional requirements for designation as an Affiliate Program. The committee uses Georgia College's Affiliate Program Rubric to evaluate proposals.
With that approach, we honor Georgia College’s rich culture of leadership development by:
- Providing for continuity of student experiences across Georgia College’s varied leadership-development opportunities.
- Shoring up resources and ensuring the same quality of experience across the curriculum and co-curriculum.
- Capitalizing on existing resources by identifying internal strengths and expertise, leveraging them on behalf of all GCSU leadership-development efforts.
- Pooling resources and create economies of scale through intra-university partnerships.
In particular, by curating the panoply of choices available at Georgia College and by providing for individual student consultations, we help each student to choose his or her own leadership-development experiences with intention.
Step 4. Implement
The Office of Leadership Programs provides support and resources for our Georgia College affiliate leadership programs.
For your program/course:
- Co-sponsorship possibilities for leadership-related events, symposia, workshops, and programs.
- Financial support for your leadership-related programs and courses.
- Ongoing support and mentorship for your students.
- Preferred rates for leadership consulting, inventories, and assessments.
- Preferential registration for university-wide leadership-development workshops.
- Data tracking and reporting.
For faculty/staff program partners:
- Funding to faculty to support leadership and public affairs related research and scholarship.
- Opportunities for faculty and staff professional development.
- A listing and profile on the Georgia College Leadership Programs website.
- Invitation to Georgia College's annual Leadership Mixer.
- Recognition in Leadership Programs publications and at our annual leadership banquet.
- Use of Affiliate Program seal.