Leadership Microcredential
For the purpose of establishing the Leadership microcredential, demonstration of competency in this skill will be defined as:
- Demonstrates personal accountability and effective work habits, e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, and time workload management, and understands the impact of non-verbal communication on professional work image.
- Strong commitment to integrity and ethical behavior, acts responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind, and is able to learn from his/her mistakes.
- Leverages the strengths of others to achieve common goals and use interpersonal skills to coach and develop others.
- Able to assess and manage his/her emotions and those of others, use empathetic skills to guide and motivate, and organize, prioritize, and delegate work.
Rationale
The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) promotes standards to enhance opportunities for student learning and development from higher education programs and services. With regard to Student Leadership Programs, the CAS Standards provide the following contextual statement:
Leadership is an inherently relational process of working with others to accomplish a goal or to promote change. Most leadership programs seek to empower students to enhance their self efficacy as leaders and understand how they can make a difference, whether as positional leaders or active participants in a group or community process. Leadership development involves self-awareness and understanding of others, values and diverse perspectives, organizations, and change. Leadership also requires competence in establishing purpose, working collaboratively, and managing conflict. Institutions can initiate opportunities to study leadership and to experience a range of leadership-related activities designed to intentionally promote desired outcomes of student leadership learning.
Furthermore, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) identifies Leadership as one of its primary Career Readiness competencies: https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined/. NACE distinguishes sample behaviors of Leadership as follows:
- Inspire, persuade, and motivate self and others under a shared vision.
- Seek out and leverage diverse resources and feedback from others to inform direction.
- Use innovative thinking to go beyond traditional methods.
- Serve as a role model to others by approaching tasks with confidence and a positive attitude.
- Motivate and inspire others by encouraging them and by building mutual trust.
- Plan, initiate, manage, complete and evaluate projects.
Milestone 1: Course/Clerkship: Assessed Competency in Student Learning Outcome
| Description |
Learners complete an approved course or clerkship as part of their enrolled course of study with the principles of leadership clearly identified and measured Student Learning Outcome in the course syllabus. This includes development and demonstrated competency in one or more of the following:
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| Skills | Accountability, time management, resourcefulness, professionalism, integrity, ethical behavior, developing others, emotional intelligence, delegation, positive influence |
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Evidence (specifically what documented proof will be provided) |
Student will upload documented evidence of graded assignments and exams as well as objective evaluative feedback from instructor that verifies significant competency in of one or more of the identified leadership skills. For each submitted evaluation or assignment*, it should be expressly stipulated that students will be able to pass basic requirements for successfully completing the unit or course, but can still be assessed as not competent in these skills as evaluated by instructor. Documentation may include:
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Milestone 2: Completion and Assessed Competency in Approved Co-Curricular Activity
| Description |
Learners complete an approved and inventoried co-curricular activity or experience that meets the criteria as qualified to significantly develop and assess competency in one or more of the defined leadership skills. This includes development and demonstrated competency in one or more of the following:
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| Skills | Accountability, time management, resourcefulness, professionalism, integrity, ethical behavior, developing others, emotional intelligence, delegation, positive influence |
| Evidence | Student will upload evidence of completed activity accompanied by performance evaluation, outcome assessment, or other objective feedback from activity facilitator/instructor as approved by appropriate department head*. Student will have to have verifiable record of participation of and completion of activity and all requirements pertaining to Student Learning Outcome. Even with all participation requirements met, it should be expressly stipulated that student can be deemed as not competent in skill as assessed by facilitator/instructor. Documentation may include:
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Milestone 3: Completion of Approved Summative Project or Experience Presented to DSAA Microcredential Review Team
| Description |
Learners complete a pre-approved project or experience for which the outcome is determined by the designated DSAA Microcredential Review Team to meet “significant and measurable evidence of mastery of one or more identified leadership skill that is fundamental to the design of the project or experience.” This includes development and demonstrated competency in one or more of the following:
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| Skills | Accountability, time management, resourcefulness, professionalism, integrity, ethical behavior, developing others, emotional intelligence, delegation, positive influence |
| Evidence | The learner will have to present an account of their experience, including evidence of completion and mastery of the associated skills in written or presentation format*. The experience will also have to be verified by an authorized supervisor, such as project director, faculty/staff advisor, site coordinator, etc. This may include:
The DSAA Microcredential Review Team reserves the right to require the candidate to complete an interview or project presentation in case submitted documentation is not deemed adequate to determine whether it meets the milestone.
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