Interested in being a Field Partner?
We believe community-engaged learning is a reciprocal relationship where students gain applied leadership skills while supporting the mission of a community-serving organization.
During our third core course, LEAD 3971: Field Experience, students complete 25–30 hours of community-engaged learning with a partner organization through a project developed by your team. Through this experience, students practice collaborative leadership and learn applied leadership by observing how organizations and leaders navigate the tensions between aspirations and limitations.
About the Minor
The Leadership Minor supports students' ability to lead toward collective liberation by analyzing systemic power imbalances, evaluating multiple leadership frameworks, building collaborative leadership skills, and developing their leader identities.
About our Students
Leadership Minor students come from different disciplines and have a wide range of interests, skills, and goals.
By the time they work with you, they’ll have taken two of our core courses: Personal Leadership in the University and Leadership, You and Your Community.
Students bring to their Field Experience a willingness to embrace personal growth, execute collaborative work, and center community as they work with you to support your organization’s social change initiatives.
About the Field Experience Course
LEAD 3971: Field Experience is a community-engaged course. Students focus on two key questions: How do organizational leaders manage the tension between aspirations and limitations? How do I want to practice leadership in an organizational context?
In this class, students explore transformational leadership theories and critically reflect on how leaders and organizations manage limitations as they continue to work toward their aspirations. In small groups, students will practice community-engaged learning and the concept of reciprocity, while contributing to your organization and learning from your organizational leaders. Students continue to develop their leader identities through critical reflection, engagement with thought leaders, and in the context of an organization.
Past Field Experience Partnerships
Examples of past partnerships include:
- In St. Paul Public Schools Community Education, students worked together to create a one-week summer camp curriculum for elementary-age campers
- With Communities Advancing Prosperity for Immigrants (CAPI), students supported direct services and civic education for refugees and immigrants. They helped in the culturally specific food shelf on site, with housing and benefits navigation services, and with civic engagement strategies.
- With Women Winning, students worked to support their work in empowering campaign leaders, candidates, and elected officials committed to reproductive health, and rights and bodily autonomy in Minnesota.