The vision of the Higdon Student Leadership Center is that students will realize that leadership skills are life skills and that leadership is a process, not a position. The Higdon Student Leadership Center, at the College of Charleston, believes that leaders are developed and not born; therefore, the Center commits to engaging and preparing students for leadership roles and their role in society while adhering to the College of Charleston core values:

Integrity
Adherence to the highest ethical standards in all our professional obligations and personal responsibilities.

Academic Excellence
Commitment to a dynamic intellectual community, high academic standards, strong academic programs and a high quality faculty of engaged and engaging teacher scholars.

Liberal Arts Education
Dedication to a Liberal Arts & Sciences education that encourages intellectual curiosity and fosters each student's ability to think creatively and analyze, synthesize, apply and communicate knowledge from many sources.

Respect for the Individual Student
Devotion to the intellectual, ethical, and social development of each student.

Diversity
Commitment to compassion, mutual trust, respect, civility, collegial shared governance, teamwork and the general welfare of the institution and the individual.

Public Mission
Commitment to our social responsibilities and to serving the educational needs of the state of South Carolina and our community.

Intended Outcomes for Programs Offered by the Higdon Student Leadership Center

General "Overall" Intended Outcomes

• Develop character education
• Learn to empower self and others
• Discover one’s strengths and areas of development
• Learn to inspire others
• Know how to be a good citizen
• Practice the specifics of organization
• Manage time
• Develop decision-making skills
• Recognize and appreciate the diversity that exists in today’s multicultural society

Specific "Leadership" Intended Outcomes

• Understand the concept, development, and application of leadership
• Recognize the academic side of leadership through specific courses offered by the College
• Describe and identify leadership styles
• Identify leadership traits and behaviors and how to integrate into everyday situations
• Become familiar with the vocabulary of leadership
• Clarify, internalize, and congruently live one’s own values
• Apply concepts from one learned experience to another
• Benefit from constructive external evaluations