Beyond exploring the non-profit world and the various ways that organizations can provide service to their communities, UNIV 290 asks students to think critically about how THEY can contribute to making the world a better place, using their skills, interests, and knowledge.  In this way, UNIV 290 seeks to help Loyola students fulfill the University's mission of "putting knowledge in service to humanity."

Students explore their own potential for leadership in a variety of ways:

• By assessing their own assets, including their social networks, their personal experiences, and their skillsets;
• By articulating what they have to offer on a skills-based resume, developed and then workshopped on this class;
• By applying their skills to a concrete organization, where they provide 40-50 hours of volunteer service throughout the semester;
• By studying mechanisms of community engagement and leadership theory;
• By teaching their peers (in the class and, through their electronic portfolios, in the broader Loyola community) different ways that they can get involved in making a difference.

Throughout the semester, students in UNIV 290 are invited to imagine leadership...and to imagine themselves as leaders.