Leadership ELR for Your Courses

Elon offers a process through which faculty who teach courses related to leadership can apply to have the course satisfy Elon’s Leadership ELR. This designation is aimed at courses that engage students in leadership experiences and address leadership content. This designation aims to draw in students and help them gain appropriate recognition for their work. The designation yields several benefits including reduced course caps, highly motivated students, and more, described further in the application form itself.

Courses do not need to count toward the Leadership Studies Minor to apply for the Leadership ELR designation; any faculty whose course includes significant leadership-related content and activity can apply.

To apply, please read the information below and then fill out the form to apply for your course to have the Leadership ELR designation (log in with your standard Elon information; form does NOT need to be completed all in one sitting). You may also find this decision tree, “Is my course Leadership-focused, or Academic Service-Learning?” helpful.

Submissions for Spring/Summer courses are typically due in early September. Submissions for Fall/Winter courses are typically due in mid-February. If you would like to learn more about leadership education before submitting a course, consider applying for the Leadership Faculty Scholars program, offered annually. This is not required. If you have questions, please contact the Faculty Fellow for Leadership (currently Raj Ghoshal, rghoshal@elon.edu)

Applying for the Leadership ELR Designation

Read this when applying for the Leadership ELR designation.

Experiential Learning Requirement Mission Statement 

The Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR) prepares students for lives of meaningful work and service.  By engaging students in opportunities that integrate knowledge and experience, the ELR fosters an understanding and life-long appreciation for learning. Students engage in a process that includes preparation, action, and reflection to develop the habits of mind required to learn effectively from experience and the commitment to put knowledge into action as socially responsible global citizens. The Experiential Learning Requirement can be met through internships, leadership, service- learning, study abroad, or undergraduate research.

Leadership ELR Course Designation

Thank you for considering a Leadership course designation for your class.  This designation has several benefits, including:

  • Courses can be capped at 25 to better accommodate leadership pedagogy in the classroom.
  • Students can more easily identify which courses or sections have a leadership component and qualify for ELR credit.
  • Leadership Education ELR courses will be considered by the Leadership Advisory Board for Leadership Studies Minor elective credit.
  • These courses and students can be better identified for the purposes of institutional research and assessment.
  • Additional support from the Center for Leadership and the Faculty Fellow for Leadership Education.

Course-based Leadership ELR approval is linked to the faculty member and course together (not to every instructor of that course, nor to every section of that course), unless worked out otherwise at the time of submission. Approval is valid for 3 years, e.g. a course + instructor combination initially ELR-approved for Fall 2025 is ELR-approved through Summer 2028 (but can then be extended). We sometimes grant shorter-term or conditional approvals.

The following definition of leadership at Elon might be helpful to you as you design your Leadership ELR courses: Leaders can serve two different roles.  They can be in an elected or appointed position of authority and responsible for guiding the group’s actions, or they can be any member of a group or community who is actively engaging with others and working to create positive change.  Socially responsible leaders are inclusive, empowering, purposeful, ethical, and attentive to the group or collaborative process.  In that context, leadership is the relational and ethical process of people working together to accomplish positive change.

The Leadership ELR requires a minimum of 40 hours of leadership-related work which may include direct project work, instruction and mentorship aimed at developing a reflective practice of leadership, and more.

Leadership or Community-Based Learning?

There are overlaps in the types of projects that could potentially qualify for either the Leadership ELR or the Community-Based Learning (CBL, formerly Academic Service-Learning or ASL) ELR because of their sustained community engagement. The differences between these designations center on the pedagogies, reflective practices, and goals emphasized. A course may only be designated in one ELR per semester. Generally speaking, if the metacognitive work in the course (such as reflections on the experience) is mainly oriented toward helping the student understand and grow in their leadership identity, potential, and roles, then it is more likely leadership. If the course involves a reciprocal community partnership with a non-profit organization, school, or a government agency guided by both the disciplinary expertise of professors and community-based practitioners working together with students to address community needs and the public good, then it is most likely community-based learning. *If you are unsure which ELR better suits your course, please access the flowchart for addressing this question here, also available from the faculty fellows for leadership (Raj Ghoshal) and community-based learning (Philip Motley) if the link goes down.*

Leadership education frameworks to aid student leadership development:

Organizing your course around a leadership framework such as the Relational Leadership Model or Social Change Model may be a helpful structure for students to articulate their leadership learning. The faculty fellow for leadership education is an important resource on campus as you develop your application and is available for consultation throughout the exploration, development and submission process of your application as well as during the planning and execution of your class.  The current faculty fellow (2021-2025) is Raj Ghoshal.

Courses for the Leadership ELR should use one of the two following course project formats:

Disciplinary Team Project and Workbook. In these classes, students work in collaboration on a project within their classroom.  The lens of leadership is utilized to help students better facilitate and manage team dynamics within their groups.  Faculty members designing courses with a disciplinary team approach should explain in their application which leadership outcomes they will be leveraging to guide student leadership development as well as how they will track reflective practice and growth of student skill. These projects should be designed to foster a high level of collaboration across students within a team over the course of several weeks.

Common Good Project. In these classes, students work in collaboration to create change within the community. Students utilize disciplinary and leadership frameworks when working with a community or campus partner to enact change within their world. The goal of their final integrative project is expected to have a direct outcome on the broader community. These projects should have a clearly defined beneficiary and faculty members designing courses with a common good element should outline how they will ensure that student efforts are in alignment with their beneficiary’s needs and goals. These projects may be completed in groups or individually. Leaders engaged in change initiatives will: Identify a specific problem, challenge, or opportunity; Apply a scholarly framework to their understanding of the problem and/or implementation of change initiatives; Work in partnership or collaboration with others to identify a solution, project, or change initiative; Implement the solution or attempt change for the common good.

More information and workbook material for each format is available from the Center for Leadership. Applications will be reviewed by the Leadership Studies Advisory Board. When filling out this survey you do not need to complete it all at once; you can select the “save” option at the bottom and return to your work later.