Mar 19, 2024  
Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog 2015-2016 
    
Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog 2015-2016 [ARCHIVED CATALOG] See drop-down menu above to access other catalogs.

Civic Education and Community Leadership Minor


The civic education and community leadership minor consists of 21 credit hours of course work designed to: 1) provide students with an interdisciplinary curriculum that promotes leadership and community service; 2) build on the university’s service‑learning mission; and, 3) broaden campus efforts to build partnerships with local and state community organizations. The learning objectives associated with the minor include developing students’ knowledge and understanding of civic leadership and community engagement, communication and advocacy, management and organizational behavior, local and regional affairs, economic development, politics and governance, and social justice and social change.

Because interdisciplinary perspectives are necessary to solve most public policy problems, 12 different disciplines across the campus – anthropology, communication studies, economics, English, geography, history, management, philosophy, psychology, political science, social work and sociology – offer courses in the program. Students completing this minor will be assigned a faculty advisor from one of these departments.

For further information, interested students should contact the coordinator of the minor, Dr. George Serra, Director of the Department of Political Science’s Center for Legislative Studies.

Grade Requirement


In addition to the requirements listed below, a minimum grade of “C” is required in all courses applied toward the minor.

Course Requirements


Foundation course (3 credits)


It is recommended that students complete the foundation course before completing the other components of the minor.

Experiential and Service Learning course (3 credits)


Any of the following courses will satisfy this requirement if: 1) a substantial portion of course content is related to issues pertaining to civic education and community leadership; and 2) the student has gained written approval from the chairperson of the department offering the course and the coordinator of the minor. Students should gain written approval prior to completing an experiential or service learning course to ensure that it will satisfy this requirement of the minor.

Area courses (15 credits)


Students must take one course (three credits) from each of the following areas. A special topics course or a directed study offered by any of the departments listed below will satisfy an area requirement if 1) a significant portion of course content is related to the area requirement and 2) the student has gained prior approval from the chairperson of the department offering the course and the coordinator of the minor. Students should gain written approval prior to completing a special topics course or a directed study to ensure that it will satisfy this requirement of the minor.

In fulfilling the area requirements, students may not take more than two courses (six credits) from the same department, and at least three of the courses (nine credits) must be at the 300‑400 level. No course can count toward satisfying one of the area requirements and the experiential and service‑learning requirement listed above; students must choose whether they want a course to satisfy an area requirement or the experiential and service learning requirement.

Total minimum credits: 21