Welcome to Leadership Fellows!

Elizabeth Williamson, LFCP Director & Wyatt Johns, Leadership Foundations Student, April 2024

Elizabeth Williamson, LFCP Director & Wyatt Johns, Leadership Foundations Student, April 2024

Leadership Faculty Team

Why Choose the Leadership Fellows Certificate?

graduation

Leadership Fellows is relevant for any student interested in being the change they want to see in the world.

Regardless of one’s field of study, everything eventually comes down to how one leads and, for that matter, how one follows.

Employers in all types of endeavors and from all kinds of industries are motivated to hire students who possess self-knowledge, are emotionally and socially intelligent and know how to motivate, influence, and work with others.

Graduates of MSU’s Leadership Fellows Certificate Program have learned about leading adaptively, collaboratively working through conflict, and creatively using limited resources. Leadership Fellows emerge from MSU confident in their ability to lead, follow, and create positive change in the world.

Upon successful completion of the program, students receive:

  • Permanent “Leadership Fellow” designation on their official MSU transcript
  • A Leadership Fellows pin that can be worn during MSU’s commencement ceremony, to job interviews, and in the workplace
  • A professional Certificate of Completion suitable for framing designating the student’s accomplishment
  • Letters of recommendation and/or introduction for internships, graduate programs of study, and for entry level jobs can be requested by Leadership Fellows students during and after their participation in the program.

Leadership Fellows: Did you know that?

Women in Agriculture - Leadership Capstone Presentation

Leadership Capstone student Cadence Lommori, April 2024

MSU students clearly wish to acquire the leadership understandings and competencies to create positive change not only in themselves but in their communities and around the world. Students from all majors and areas of study have the opportunity to practice leadership and community development on a local to global level. Leadership Fellows is a wonderful place to begin that journey. For four additional credits, students from any program of study (not just EHHD students) have the opportunity to obtain the very marketable Leadership Fellows Certificate upon graduation.

  • Any MSU student can earn a Leadership Fellows Certificate: Leadership Fellows is available to all students regardless of their chosen field of study
  • The Leadership Fellow designation is noted on final official transcripts
  • Prospective employers value students with leadership knowledge and experience
  • A Leadership Fellows Certificate on a résumé can open doors to . . .
    • Graduate School
    • Internships
    • Your First Job
  • Program caps at 100 students. Currently (Fall 2025) there are 75 declared students.

Declaring the Certificate

Certificate Pathway (4 required, 12 elective) • Students frequently declare by sophomore year (special cases can declare in junior/senior). • Six of the 12 elective courses must come from HLD course offerings. • Six of the remaining electives can be Non-HLD courses. They can come from either another Non-HLD leadership course, major, minor or other coursework). • Non-HLD courses must be taken after HLD121 U.S., present an opportunity to practice learned leadership behaviors, and must be pre-agreed upon between LFCP Director and student. Senior Fall and Spring Semesters Research Capstone HLD 499 (302) Required (1 credit) Sophomore to Senior Fall Semesters Being a Leader (2026) Internships Independent Study Leader's Way Adaptive Leadership Spring Semesters Internships Study Abroad Global Leadership Thinking, Writing & Speaking for Leadership HLD 200 / 300 / 400 Electives (6 credits) Pre-approved / Major / Minor / Other Electives Option of Non-HLD Courses (6 credits) Freshman/Sophoore Fall and Spring Semesters Leadership Foudations HLD121 U.S. Required (3 credits) Montana State University Leadership Fellows

To see HLD courses available through the Leadership Fellows Certificate, see the MSU Leadership Fellows Catalogue page.

For Certificate / Student Planning Purposes: Annual Scheduled Offering of Leadership Fellows Certificate Human Leadership Development (HLD) Classes by semester, the number of credits of each course (), and whether each course counts as elective or required for the certificate.

Course Number (Credits)

HLD 121US  
(3)

HLD 206 
(3)

HLD 221 
(3)

HLD 292 
(3)

HLD 293 
(3)

HLD 298/498 (3)

HLD 346 
(3) 

HLD 347D 
(3) 

HLD499 (formerly 302)  (1) 

required

elective

elective

elective

elective

elective

elective

elective

elective

required
Fall X X – X – X X – X
Spring X – X – X X – X X
Summer – – – – – – – – –

Leadership Fellows Certificate Pillars of Study

The thematic pillars of leadership for the proposed minor in Leadership Studies have been identified as Leader as Individual, Leader and Community, and Global Leadership. These areas represent important leadership areas of scholarship and focus on practical applications of leading.

PILLAR I: Courses within the Leader as Individual pillar explore leadership from an intrapersonal perspective of self-knowledge and self-management.

  • HLD121US: Leadership Foundations
  • HLD 346: Leader's Way

PILLAR II: Courses within the Leader and Community pillar explore leadership on the interpersonal level and involve a sociological systems approach to leading, including effective communication skills within a community:

  • HLD 206: Leading Adaptively in a Complex World
  • HLD 221: Thinking, Writing & Speaking for Leadership
  • HLD 499 (formerly 302): Leadership Capstone

PILLAR III Courses within the Global Leadership pillar represent the global exploration, consideration, and application of leadership with particular emphasis on cultural humility:

  • HLD 347D: Global Leadership & Cultural Humility
  • HLD 293: Study abroad courses offered by Leadership Fellows

Additional Leadership Courses: A variety of elective courses currently offered under the HLD prefix and approved by Leadership Fellows align well as applied coursework in leadership studies:

  • HLD 292: Independent Study
  • HLD 298/498: Internships (in partnership with Montana Public Interest Resource Group – MTPIRG)
  • HLD 499 (formerly 302): Leadership Capstone

*Classes below qualify as leadership certificate electives but are not, however, managed by the Leadership Fellows Certificate Program.

  • HLD 460: Student Leader Training*
  • HLD 464: Student Assistant Candidate Training*
  • HLD 494: AdvoCat Seminar*

These courses also provide valuable opportunities for students to actively exercise leadership in different capacities across MSU. Continuing to include these electives as part of the proposed Leadership Studies minor synergistically strengthens both the minor and the programs to which they belong

Leaderships Fellows with certificates in front of Reid Hall in spring.

May 2025 Leadership Fellows graduates

Interested or Ready to Become a Leadership Fellow?

Declare soon by talking to your advisor and contacting Elizabeth Roberts Williamson, elizabeth.roberts@montana to book an informational meeting! 

If you would like to learn more about the Leadership Fellows Certificate Program,
contact Elizabeth Roberts Williamson at elizabeth.roberts@montana.edu.
The Leadership Fellows office is at 242 Reid Hall.
The phone number is 406-994-2016.Montana State University Leadership Fellows logo