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Key milestones for the MA in Leadership program over the past 15 years include:

• 2003 - First MA in Leadership cohort completes its program of study
• 2005 - Over 100 students graduate
• 2006 - The MA in Leadership undergoes a redesign
• 2008 - The Leadership Center is launched
• 2012 - A social justice concentration is added
• 2014 - Over 500 students graduate
• 2018 - 44 cohorts of students have enrolled in the MA in Leadership program (and counting!)
• 2019 - New Curricular Update Incorporating Added Leadership Coaching and Social Justice Elements
• 2021 - Program pivots to hybrid learning and deepens its commitment to equity and resilience in response to the global pandemic.
• 2025 - MA in Leadership transitions from a quarter to a semester calendar and from 18-months to 15-months, streamlining curriculum while maintaining depth and flexibility.
   

A Leadership Learning Portfolio

The learning portfolio is comprised of four elements: a personal Leadership Development Plan, Reflection Papers, Leadership Project Paper, and a Graduate Self Assessment.

Leadership Development Plan

The creation of the leadership development plan (LDP) starts during the first course and continues throughout the program. There are five primary activities for the learner in creating the LDP:

1. To develop a personal aspirational definition/perspective of leadership.
2. To track its formation and emergence over the life of the program.
3. To identify the theory and values informing this definition.
4. To identify the capacities and skills needed to enact this definition/perspective of leadership in one’s field of practice.
5. To create actions and practices that promote the development of this leadership in one’s work and life following completion of the program.

Reflection Papers

At the end of each course you will be asked to write a reflection paper discussing how you are connecting the learning between courses and how you are applying the learning. The focus of the Reflection Papers will vary following each course and are intended to support your learning throughout the program — write about what has meaning for you; timely completion of the weaver reflection papers is a requirement for your learning portfolio for graduation.

Leadership Project Paper

The Leadership Project is a culminating and integrating component of the Program. As a capstone spanning the last ten months of the Program, the Leadership Project (also known as the Synthesis Project) invites you to integrate, demonstrate, and synthesize 21st century leadership practices as you identify and carry out a research project for which you have a great passion. You will design, implement and report on a participatory action inquiry and change strategy in response to a problem, issue, opportunity or question within a specific group, institution or community. The project offers you the opportunity to develop new processes and practices for sustainable leadership at the personal and organizational level. You learn through creating the conditions for a collaborative change process and engaging 21st century leadership practices. The Leadership Project Paper describes the research project design, implementation, outcomes, and learnings.

Graduate Self-Assessment

During the final module of the Leadership Program, learners write about their learning experience during the course of the program. The program learning outcomes serve as an organizing frame for the first section of the paper. The other two sections include an assessment of the learner’s personal learning goals and a reflection on the experience of membership in the cohort learning community.

The Master of Arts in Leadership at Saint Mary’s College began in 2001, a time when leadership was still emerging as a distinct academic discipline. We were one of approximately 15 graduate leadership education programs in the U.S.  — a pioneer in a now-global field of leadership education. Today, we are proud to be part of a worldwide movement advancing leadership for meaningful, system-level change.

What makes us unique in this growing and diverse field of academic leadership education programs is that we are informed by the values of the Three Traditions of Saint Mary’s College, which reflect a commitment to justice, service and whole person learning. Our hybrid program, combining online and in-person learning, provides a transformative education in collaborative leadership for working professionals responsive to the complex and emerging challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

While the program initially focused on public sector leadership, by 2003 we expanded to welcome professionals from the private and nonprofit sectors. Today, our participants come from all three sectors and a wide range of industries, roles, cultural backgrounds, and aspirations. 

Our graduates consistently report that the program has been life-changing for them, both professionally and personally. They tell us that their employers, colleagues, family and friends recognize their increased competence and confidence in building relationships, navigating and facilitating change, working effectively under pressure, and creating the conditions for more productivity and well being in both work and life. They also report discovering and applying their unique strengths in ways that enrich their lives and the communities and organizations they serve.

Graduates from the MA in Leadership program range in age from their mid-twenties to their early seventies, hailing from all sectors of the economy and representing all levels/titles of positional authority. It is the remarkable diversity of participants who are drawn to this program that creates what graduates describe as the “secret sauce” of this transformative experience.

If you would like to speak with a graduate who shares your background and interests, please let us know by sending us an email: leadership@stmarys-ca.edu.