MSU Leadership Fellows Certificate

The Leadership Fellows Certificate is available to all Montana State University students from all areas of study. The Leadership Fellows Certificate is a 16-credit program of study offered through MSU’s Education Department. 

Three programmatic pillars guide courses offered by Leadership Fellows: Leader as Individual, Leader in Community, and Leading Globally. The program was developed to provide students with the essential tools needed to discover and develop their potential as positive leaders and empowered followers. The Leadership Fellows (HLD) courses are designed to cultivate effective communicators, critical and creative thinkers and problem solvers, and local and global citizens. 

For students interested in pursuing a Leadership Fellows Certificate and further deepening their knowledge and practice of leadership, Leadership Fellows offers additional elective courses including: Leading Adaptively in a Complex World; Thinking, Writing & Leading; Global Leadership & Cultural Humility; The Leader's Way. Various Leadership Fellow Independent Study and Internship opportunities also exist.

The certificate has 2 required courses: HLD 121, 3 credits and 302,1 credit. The certificate also requires 12 additional credits approved from student's major/minor and from either HLD certificate approved courses or other leadership-related courses approved by the Leadership Fellows director.

Leadership Foundations (HLD121) also meets MSU's Core University Seminar requirement. Students usually take Leadership Capstone during their junior or senior year, although exceptions can be made. Leadership Capstone students synthesize their leadership learning in a final research or creative project. Students must successfully pass both required courses with a grade of C- or better to earn the Leadership Fellows Certificate. New and transferring students can also choose to live in the on-campus Emerging Leaders Living/Learning Community. Emerging Leaders are automatically registered for HLD 102, Leadership Explorations, a graded 1-credit course.

To learn more about the certificate and program, please see the Leadership Fellows website. You may also reach out to the Leadership Fellows director, Elizabeth Williamson at elizabeth.roberts@montana.edu.

HLD Course List

HLD 102, Leadership Explorations (1-credit, approved for certificate)

Students living in the Emerging Leaders Living-Learning Community (ELLLC) are automatically enrolled in HLD 102, Leadership Explorations. This is a 1-credit course that is offered for Fall semesters only. Leadership Explorations sets the stage for an enjoyable first-year university experience—personally, academically, and socially. Your decision to live in the ELLLC is an important first self-leadership decision at MSU. Emerging leaders attend classroom seminars and enjoy outside-of-the-classroom activities during fall semesters.

HLD 121US, Leadership Foundations (3-credits, offered each Fall/Spring semesters, required for certificate)

This CORE-approved, US seminar course provides students with the opportunity to develop essential understandings of leading and following through readings, exposure to various media, and experiential learning. This course is offered in person and online. This is an introductory and required course for students who wish to obtain a Leadership Fellows Certificate. However, any student in any field of study is welcome to take the course.

HLD 206, Leading Adaptively in a Complex World (3 credits, offered Fall semesters only, approved for certificate)

Leading Adaptively in a Complex World is rooted in the concept that leadership is an action one takes to effect change. Based on this perspective, leadership is exercised by mobilizing people to address challenging situations (described as adaptive challenges) occurring in complex social environments. Thus, individuals who practice leadership need to be adaptive in the actions they take. This is accomplished by effectively diagnosing the social dynamics occurring within each adaptive challenge before strategically intervening. This face-to-face, web-enhanced, discussion-based seminar emphasizes the methods and principles for engaging in this process.

HLD 221, Thinking, Writing & Leading (3 credits, offered Spring semesters, approved for certificate)

A critical and creative practice is a constant flow of divergent and convergent action: We cast outwards, expressing, testing and experiencing; we observe the impact of our actions on the world and then we synthesize, formulating notions of truth, quality, beauty, and success. These formulations of meaning influence others’ thoughts and actions, thereby creating feedback loops of understanding for the real-world practice of leadership. This is the work of change makers in an interconnected and ever-changing society. This leadership writing course leans into critical and creative processes to practice a more conscious way of leadership. The work-shopping process is an open forum for growing your leadership practice and writing abilities. We focus on giving and receiving feedback, collaborating to make win-for-all solutions, and gaining a critical, whole-systems view of the world.

HLD 292 Independent Study (1-6 credits, available Fall/Spring semesters, approved for certificate pending Leadership Fellows Director approval)

Offered fall and spring semesters, work collaboratively with the Leadership Fellows Director or Leadership Fellows Faculty to develop a student-driven leadership project. 

HLD 298 / 498 Internship Program (1-6 credits, available Fall/Spring semesters, approved for certificate pending Leadership Fellows Director approval)

Each fall and spring semesters, leadership-based internships are available. Connect with a community member organization to propose your own internship program or apply with the the Leadership Fellows Director to be a part of existing Leadership Fellows intern opportunities. 

HLD 302, Leadership Capstone (1 credit, offered each Fall/Spring semesters, required for certificate)

Leadership Capstone, HLD 302, is for students who wish to complete the requirements for the Leadership Fellows Certificate. This course is offered in person and online. HLD 121US, Leadership Foundations, is a prerequisite for HLD 302, and students need to have passed HLD 121US with a letter grade of “C-” or better to get permission to register for Leadership Capstone. Capstone projects allow students to reflect on and extend leadership scholarship within their particular field of study. Subsumed into a capstone project are self-leadership skills including time management; planning and execution; self-sufficiency; goal setting; and critical writing.

HLD 391, Global Leadership & Culture (3 credits, offered Spring semesters, approved for certificate)

Global Leadership & Culture examines what it means to be a culturally aware and humble leader. The course is based on three underlying goals, to: (1) critically examine the practice of extra-cultural leadership; (2) critically examine one’s own cultural identity; and (3) critically examine apartheid and its reconciliation in South Africa.

HLD 346, The Leader's Way (3 credits, offered Spring semesters, approved for certificate)

Using the teaching assistant class model, this course prepares emerging leaders to actively engage at both organizational and global levels. Interpersonal communication as a process and within a systems approach is the focus of this leader development class. The course encourages awareness, development, and application of deep listening, an essential interpersonal communication skill and behavior for all 21st century leaders. Within contexts of mediation, facilitation and teaching, students are provided a variety of project-based, in-class experiential activities, and out-of-class assignments in the form of written, auditory, and visual formats from literature, science, learning theory, classical texts, communication practice, and the arts. “Weekly experiments” enhance students’ own deep listening abilities while increasing understandings of processes utilizing a systems approach.

HLD 121USLeadership Foundations3
HLD 302Leadership Capstone1
Leadership Electives12
Total Credits16

 Leadership Electives

HLD 206Leading Adaptively in a Complex World3
HLD 221Critical Thinking, Writing and Leading3
HLD 291Special Topics1-4
HLD 292Independent Study1-3
HLD 298Internship1-6
HLD 346The Leader's Way: Deep Listening, Systems & Processes3
HLD 391Special Topics (Global Leadership & Culture)3
HLD 491Special Topics3
HLD 498Internship1-6