SWE Student Leadership Certificate

The SWE Certificate of Student Leadership was created to recognize outstanding SWE members for their contributions to the organization and their participation in activities that advance SWE’s mission. Students will complete leadership workshops, training, and attend a wide variety of SWE Illinois events to further develop their leadership strategies and goals. The goal is that those students recognized by this certificate have valuable experiences and shown growth as a Student Leader! In order to be eligible, you must complete each of the four steps below and fill out the application form.

The period for the leadership certificate runs through the full academic year, with the deadline for completion on April 5th, 2024. All attendance requirements and other steps of the program must be completed and submitted to the application form by this date. Certificates will be awarded in late April at the Mom’s Weekend Brunch and the April General Meeting!

If you have any questions related to the leadership certificate throughout the entire process, please do not hesitate to reach out to Maddie Rydell via Slack or email (mrydell2@illinois.edu).

1. Fulfill the following SWE attendance requirements (committee meetings do NOT fulfill the committee event requirement*):

  • Maintain Active Member status (at least 4 points/semester) for both semesters

  • 4 General Meetings

  • 1 Corporate Sponsored Event (Ex: Coffee Chats, Info Sessions, etc.)

  • Attend 1 Event Hosted by each of the Following Committees  (total of 7 events)

    • Community Service 

    • Fundraising

    • Membership Enrichment  

    • Outreach 

    • Professional Liaison 

    • Recruitment 

    • Social 

  • Attend 2 Diversity Committee Events 

    • One of these events must be a Get Educated Discussion

2. Attend ONE workshop that pertains to a leadership development topic of your choice and upload a paragraph describing the workshop and what you learned to the final leadership certificate submission form. Some options include:

  • UIUC leadership center: https://leadership.illinois.edu/workshops 

  • A session at WE23 or WELocal (if applicable)

  • A workshop hosted by SWE Illinois

  • If you have questions about if a workshop qualifies, ask Maddie Rydell via slack or email (mrydell2@illinois.edu)

3. Complete the global SWE leadership competency model and two online trainings

  • Fill out the SWE leadership competency model spreadsheet and upload your completed sheet to the reflection form (see below): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XYylsf3IpEJHjKSIHohclhRG87OBGqh3/edit#gid=2042336199

  • Complete 2 training sessions in the SWE advance learning center: https://advancelearning.swe.org/ 

    • One training must be from the Collegiate Learning Institute (choose Special Programs, and then Collegiate Learning Institute will be an option)

    • The second training can be from whatever category you want! 

      • If you look at the PD tab of the leadership competency model spreadsheet, there are recommendations for different trainings by category if you are interested in learning more about or improving on anything specific!

    • Note: you must have a SWE national membership to access content for free on the advance learning center. We do not expect you to pay for any courses in order to earn this certificate! If you do not have a SWE membership, reach out to Maddie and she will provide you with an alternative for this step. 

  • Once you have completed the competency model spreadsheet and the training sessions, please complete this reflection form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2JaiVNazzVHnKQdA_YQuqeiDh4ANdsDL-uQspx6UCtvd6iA/viewform?usp=sf_link

4. Submit a Blog Post for the SWE Illinois Website

  • Option 1: Write a paragraph (minimum 150 words) about your experiences in SWE so far and what SWE has meant to you throughout your college career. These will be combined into a blog post at the end of the year that celebrates our SWE chapter and all of the amazing people that are a part of it!

  • Option 2: Write a separate blog post about a topic of your choice relating to SWE! 

    • Reach out to Megan Cheng via slack or e-mail to confirm the topic you will be writing about and or any questions about the SWE blog! 

    • Some example topics could include: 

      • Your favorite SWE event 

      • A SWEster(s) that inspires you

      • Advice for underclassmen 

  • Submit your SWE blog contribution here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-n_DzoF14Y0cPaY9Qjgw7the-bRporNLJU1YRKBPU_dyiiA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Fill out the application form once you’ve completed all the requirements: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfrvb53muI3VqbK5QcLi6jBCzoQKDiiTwzD1SB4idD5Sp4hxA/viewform?usp=sf_link