Overview
The Leadership Self-Study is a required component of Northwestern University's Academic Certificate in Leadership. Successfully completing your self-study is a demonstration of your ability to positively affect the success of a group, organization or community – to leave a “leadership footprint.”

Your self-study should critically explore and engage leadership outside the classroom. Specifically, the goals are for you to:

Your self-study is the pursuit of a question about leadership that is compelling to you. It might place you in a new leadership role, be an internship or externship, or engage you in a community service experience on- or off-campus. In general, you should plan to be in this role for a minimum of 16 hours.

Learning Contract
Either individually or in small groups, your self-study will simultaneously meet your desires and our expectations for your learning about leadership. As a result, we will use a learning contract.

A learning contract is an agreement between the Undergraduate Leadership Program (ULP) and you that sets out our joint expectations for you to achieve the self-study's goals. It is intended to maintain clear and high standards for successful completion of your project while also providing you with significant flexibility on how those goals are achieved.

Click here for a sheet to guide you through writing your learning contract. You must meet with a ULP faculty or staff member in person at least once in advance of our agreeing to a final learning contract. Our goal is to be an enthusiastic partner during the drafting process, once your self-study is underway, and as you complete the requirements. As a result, we strongly encourage you to meet with us throughout your self-study. We are here to not only evaluate your finished product but to also coach you in achievement of a personally significant leadership study.