Serving others and gaining a certificate for it is typically a good combination. The Service Leadership Program, offered through the School of Business and Administration, gives business students the opportunity to do just that.

The program was designed to allow students to reach out beyond the University community and serve others.

Students pick from many service sites, mostly nonprofit organizations, and contribute 300 hours of service to the site over four years.

There is also an academic component that allows student enrichment. Participating students enroll in 15 hours of service/leadership-oriented classes offered in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Every month during the school year, leadership workshops are held to empower the students and to give them practical knowledge that can be used in the business world. This is also a time for fellowship among the students.

Founded in 1996, this is the first year to graduate participants who have been in the program through all four years of college.

On April 13, at 4:30 p.m. in the Busch Memorial Center’s Argentum Room, an appreciation ceremony will honor the students and University staff members.

Donna Chapa Crowe, coordinator of the Service Leadership Program, is very proud and comments that “the students are the ones that shape and form the program. We are all one big family.”

Crowe continued by saying that the standards of the program are rising on their own. “The mean GPA of participants has risen since its inception and is now at 34.”

Also, students are branching out to other parts of the University. The group participated in Make-A-Difference-Day through the Community Outreach Center, and the Spring Break mission trips, through Campus Ministry.

There is something very special about this program. Those involved speak of it with very high regard and palpable enthusiasm.

Mike Fink, a senior and co-chair of the program’s Student Advisory Board, had some positive comments about the Service Leadership Program. “It is a great program to meet people, learn valuable, real-life skills, do service and have fun at the same time.”

He added, “It is time consuming, but it is well worth it in the end.”

Kathryn Zweig, also a senior and co-chair of the Board, commented, “I think that all Service Leaders gain in that they challenge themselves to develop personally, emotionally and spiritually.”

Those involved, however, are not the only ones giving the program high marks. The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development honored the program in its latest edition.