Servant Leadership: (Greenleaf, 1971) “Servant Leadership seeks to involve others in decision-making, is strongly based in ethical and caring behavior, and it enhances the personal growth of workers while improving the caring and quality of organizational life” (Larry Spears, CEO, Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership).

Relational Leadership: (Komives, Lucas & McMahon, 1998) defines leadership as “a relational process of people together attempting to accomplish change or make a difference to benefit the common good” (p. 21).  This Relational Leadership model includes elements of inclusiveness, empowerment, ethics, purposefulness, and process orientation.

The Social Change Model: The Social Change Model (Eisenhower/UCLA ensemble, Higher Education Research Institute, 1996) asserts that collaboration among individuals, groups, and communities is essential for social change to occur.  The “Seven C’s” of Social Change include:  Consciousness of Self, Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility, and Citizenship. 

Goals

To provide the necessary information and tools to propel college leaders forward into a lifetime of service and leadership in their chosen careers and in their communities.

To provide programs and environments that will promote growth and development in seven distinct areas: Critical Thinking; Communication; Information Technology; Interpersonal Competence; Ethical Citizenship; Global Perspectives; and Self-Directed Learning.

To provide opportunities to develop leadership in service to the community.

To provide partnerships within the UHCL community to embrace and model the concept of shared responsibility for learning.

The UHCL Center for Student Leadership and Community Engagement adheres to and embraces the CAS (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education) Standards and Guidelines for Student Leadership and Service-Learning Programs.

Community Engagement Activities

Over 100 students per semester participate in SLCE community engagement activities. Current programs that help us achieve our desired outcomes to bring co-curricular service-learning theory to practice include working with:

- Baytown Habitat for Humanity 
- Bay Area Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- Houston Humane Society
- Star of Hope (homeless temporary shelters and rehabilitation centers)
- Houston Super Bowl Clean-Up
- Houston Food Bank (Feeding the needy)
- Environmental Institute of Houston
- Mountbatten House (assisted living facility for seniors)

- First Book Reading Party (Large-scale literacy program event targeting local disadvantaged children who come to our campus to engage in a variety of learning activities to inspire them to read, and provides children with free books to build their personal libraries.  This program is coordinated in partnership with the student members from our education student organizations, providing opportunities to gain more experience in planning curriculum and teaching mini-classes to young children.  Volunteers also learn about event-planning, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, and gain greater awareness about educational challenges facing our nation’s youth.)

- Houston AIDS Walk (The SLiCE has taken large groups of students downtown to participate in the annual Houston AIDS Walk, helping students gain a deeper understanding about health and social issues.)

SLiCE programs are open to all UHCL students and staff, regardless of affiliation with existing leadership programs, organizations and activities. Membership is NOT required.