LAS offers students many opportunities to develop leadership skills and participate in service and civic opportunities.
Leadership is an important quality that many employers and graduate programs desire—some of those skills and competencies include empathy, communication, teamwork, community involvement, and innovation. Service learning will provide you with opportunities to give back to the community and develop valuable skills such as empathy, leadership, communication, problem solving, civic engagement, and teamwork.
Leadership
As a student, you'll want to develop leadership skills and competencies that will position you for leadership roles both on and off campus. Leadership is an ongoing process that involves reflection and engagement.
From taking a leadership class to taking on a leadership role in a RSO, here are some ideas for building your leadership capabilities at UIUC.
LAS 399: Leadership and Professional Development
- The LAS Global Leaders Program
- Illinois Leadership Center
- Minor in Leadership Studies
- List of Registered Student Organizations
- University Housing Paraprofessional Employment
- Counseling Center Paraprofessional Program
- The Career Center's paraprofessional program
Service and civic opportunities
Interested in giving back to your community? UIUC offers many classes, RSOs, and opportunities to learn through service while developing valuable skills for your future career.
- We CU
- We CU empowers students to make a positive impact in the community while building their resume and enriching their university experience.
- The Office of Volunteer Programs
- Alternative Seasonal Breaks
- Leadership Experience through Academic Development and Service (LEADS) Living-Learning Community
- Service-focused student organizations (Filter with the "service & philanthropy" category.)
- Social entrepreneurship: applying innovative design and business strategies to community issues to create positive change
Service-learning courses
Courses within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
- GLBL 298: Global Studies Seminar Abroad - Education and Development in Andean Ecuador
- LAS 199: Professional Development Seminar (service learning is an option)
- LAST 440: Honduras Water Project
- SPAN 232: Spanish in the Community
- SPAN 332: Spanish and Entrepreneurship
Other colleges' courses open to LAS students
- ACE 499: Sustainability - Agriculture, Environment, and Governance in Sierra Leone, West Africa
- ENG 398: Special Topics - Social Justice & STEM Education (section SJS)*
- ENG 398: Special Topics - Leadership in Engineering for Social Justice (section LES)*
- GCL 126: Sustainability and Social Science
- GCL 128: Sustainability in Fiction
- GCL 143: Mapping Inequalities
- GCL 148: Historical Perspectives on Social Justice
- GCL 185: Health, Wellness, and the Black Experience
- HDFS 379: HDFS Study Abroad Experience - Children and Families Service Learning in Cape Town, South Africa
- INFO 490: Special Topics - Makerspace (section B - community engagement)
- KIN 365: Civic Engagement in Wellness
- SHS 375: Community Partners & Health
- SOCW 321: Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change
- SOCW 330: International Perspectives - International Service Learning in Greece
- UP 335: Cities and Immigrants
*Courses affiliated with the Engineering for Social Justice Scholars Program are open to all students.