The Social Change Leadership Certificate is a FREE program that encourages students to explore leadership and identity through a critical social lens. The Social Change Leadership series is open to all students (some leadership and identity reflection experience is encouraged but not required)!
Social Change Leadership is a not-for-credit 8-week series that requires 2 to 3 hours of online work each week. The series begins during week 2 of each quarter.
SCL uses the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (the most widely-utilized model of leadership development on college campuses) as a framework for understanding leadership.
Additionally, students who complete SCL will participate in two hours of service learning (Center for Service in Action).
“For me, SCL bridged the gap between increasing my own personal awareness, and being able to act upon what those realizations mean. Going through ELS and SCL really brought up a lot of realizations along the lines of social identity, my privilege, and what that means for my personal leadership. In SCL I was able to mentally process valuable information, which then provided me with the tool of agency to implement these principles in my everyday life. It was the solidification and application of all the impactful things I was learning.”
– Cal Poly Student Leader
As a capstone assignment, each student explores a social issue or social movement that is important to them through the lens of the Social Change Model. These can be historical movements, modern-day national movements, Cal Poly movements, or movements that students are hoping to start in their community. Click below for some examples.