Purpose & Rationale

Purpose

The purpose of the MSL is to contribute to the understanding of college student leadership development—with special attention to the role of higher education in fostering leadership capacities. The study addresses individual institutional considerations while contributing to a national understanding of:

  • Student needs and outcomes
  • Effective institutional practices
  • The extent of environmental influence in leadership development

Rationale

The development of students as leaders has long served as a central purpose for institutes of higher education—academic mission statements often feature language about leadership, and the number of curricular and co–curricular leadership–development programs has increased nationwide (Astin & Astin, 2000; Zimmerman–Oster & Burkhardt, 1999). Many parties, in fact, consider the development of leadership potential an essential college outcome (NASPA & ACPA, 2004; U.S. Department of Education, 2006).

Despite this consensus on the importance of college leadership–skill development, however, three overarching problems emerge:

  • A significant gap between theory and practice
  • An unclear picture of the leadership development needs of college students
  • Uncertainty regarding the influence of the college environment on leadership development outcomes

The scarcity of research to assess specific theoretical models of leadership—as opposed to studies that use general measures of leadership development—contributes to these problems (Posner, 2004). In turn, the lack of meaningful insight into leadership theory limits the availability of evidence–based guidelines for informing program development in higher education. Supplying colleges and universities with the empirical guidelines to optimize their programming would dramatically increase their ability to enhance leadership development and the preparation of civically engaged citizens.

MSL aims to better equip leadership educators and institutions to develop leadership capacities. It provides institutions with critical data to track student learning and inform evidence–based interventions. Schools elect to participate by administering the MSL questionnaire to a sample of undergraduate students. The instrument’s web–based format minimizes the administrative burden on staff members at participating institutions and conforms to best–practice guidelines for studying students.

Please click here for a detailed description of the instrument and variables measured.

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Latest News

MSL Co-PI Honored by NASPA

3.11.2010 NASPA announced an award named in honor of MSL's Co-PI. The Susan R. Komives Student Leadership Researcher Award will be awarded annually by the Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community.

MSL Receives NASPA Award

3.11.2010 MSL received the 2010 Spotlight of the Year Award from the NASPA Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community at the 2010 annual conference in Chicago.

National MSL Benchmark Dataset

3.1.2010 Starting in the 2011 data collection, the MSL will provide a National MSL Benchmark Dataset to all participating schools as part of the MSL Standard service. The purpose of this dataset will be for use by Institutional Research and other data driven researchers at MSL participating schools to conduct their own school specific analyses, including a representative subset of the MSL National Benchmark Data.

MSL 2011 Enrollment Open

3.1.2010 MSL 2011 enrollment formally opens with new services and a significant early enrollment discount.

Student Leadership Research Award

1.28.2010 John P. Dugan is the first recipient of the "Student Leadership Research Award" presented by the NASPA Student Leadership Programs Knowledge Community.

ILA Board Appointment

10.13.2009 Susan R. Komives has recently been appointed to the Board of the International Leadership Association (ILA).

C. Charles Jackson Grant

9.18.2009 MSL has received a $25,000 grant from the C. Charles Jackson Foundation. The grant is designated to provide partial scholarships to support the involvement of institutions that need financial assistance to participate in the MSL 2010 study.

Example Custom Report

8.10.2009 An example of the complete MSL custom report is now available for download.

Informational Webinar

7.15.2009 Learn more about the MSL by watching our free informational webinar. The full webinar, PowerPoint® slides, and other materials are available for download. Read more »

Recent Publication

7.1.2009 NCLP partner Jossey-Bass has recently published a book on leadership by MSL PI Susan Komives and research team member Wendy Wagner. Leadership for a Better World: Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development is available to NCLP members at a 20% discount.

NASPA Certificate

4.6.2009 MSL PIs recognized by NASPA. Read more »

MSL 2011 Timeline

April 15, 2010

Early enrollment deadline

October, 2010

Final enrollment deadline

July - December, 2010

Schools prepare for data collection

January - April, 2011

Data collection

Summer, 2011

School reports distributed

View the full MSL Timeline »