Certified Leader

Figure 1 (See Note)

As a new freshman, you are probably overlooking new ways to get involved on campus. You may have heard speakers say this at orientation the first week of school. Maybe you are involved on campus. But If you are not, here is a great way to help. You can become a certified leader here at Bloomsburg University. The Center for Leadership & Engagement allows you get certified up to three levels each consisting of workshops, community service hours, team building and a reflection you have to write. The office is located behind Northumberland Hall on the lower level (Figure 1). You will see a sign in front of a tree saying "Center for Leadership and Engagement" as seen in Figure 1. 

  When you walk into the office you will notice around the office everything decorative with their logo, four bulletin boards each containing pictures of people who have completed a level of there certification, and more information about what you what they do at the center. In fact, if you are interested in applying, there  is a bulletin board listing for part-time jobs. They also have a waiting area that is set up very nicely. The chairs are blue with a light blue and green octagon pattern shape. Some of the chairs are set upright next to each other that makes it look like a sofa. In the center and on the side of the chairs is a brown coffee table with side tables on the side. On top of the center coffee table their is a bowl filled with Hershey kisses for a refreshment. On the smaller and side tables are different info guides regarding to jobs, study tips and strategies, and college success. On the window they created two trees and each leaf has a name of each people who became certified leader.

Someone will greet when you first walk through the door asking, "Are you interested in becoming a certified leader". He or she will may ask you to have a seat in the waiting area while they are gather a packet of information. Someone that you might interviewing you is Linda Ngohe. Linda is a part time student worker for The Center for Leadership and Engagement. She is a black woman who wears glass and her hair stands out. Its almost like a curly afro. Its unique to me because of how natural and long it looks. As I inteviewed her, even though she had a professional position, you could tell that she was very nervous by the tense look in her eyes.

For level one, someone like or Linda will say that you can complete level 1 & 2 of your certification but you can not work on level three until you complete those levels. Level one, you have to complete a "Campus community assessment, serve as an active member such as a sport or Living Learning Community for at least five hours, serve as volunteer of community service for at least five hours and completion of the self reflection experience after you complete all the workshops. There are eight workshop all together for the first level.

The first workshop is called "Self assessment". The Self Assessment is where you will focus on who you are as a person, identifying strengths,weaknesses, values and needs. It is more of an exercise to seek the uniqueness about yourself that makes you a great leader. The second workshop is called " Self Structure". Self Structure discusses academic career goals and learn ways to organize their week routines effectively manage their time. The third workshop is " Broadening your Prospectives".  Broadening your prospectives is a workshop that you would gain understanding of peoples identity and culture. The fourth workshop is "Stages of group developement & decision making". They mainly talk about theories and practices  in an effort to understand the different roles of leadership Workshop Five, Six, Seven and Eight are Skill set that all tie together. Communication & Conflict Management skills, Critical thinking & problem solving, Public Speaking & engaging with others, and Interviewing Strategies & Skills. They sound exactly what say. These workshops are guides to help shape and form you as a leader to gain a prospective.

Level two is pretty similar process but instead works in steps as seen in figure 2 below. This level has actually has tracks that you can follow. Student Organizational Leadership, Community Engagement Leadership, Group Leadership, and Social Leadership. Having a track helps you to stand out because the track you choose show that you are passionate about that category. When you complete this workshop you have to complete 10 hours of community service and of course the reflection.



Figure 2

Level Three is the maximum level that you can achieve. You have to first speak with a CLE leader to discuss interest and proposal of ideas. At this level you is where you get to test you leadership skills from all the workshops you attended. You must have a minimum of 16 hours of you leading, organizing a large event on campus such as community service (Figure 3). For the  workshop, you have to attend one professional prep workshop about "How to brand yourself as Husky Leaders" and "Connecting your leadership experience with your academic Major or Discipline". The last task of the workshops you have to complete a mock interview of what you did every level, you will be finish every workshop. The last steps are turning in the reflection and you will become certified level three.


Figure 3 See Note.

 For more information, please visit The Center for leadership website for further assistance or feel free to stop by at anytime.