Learning, Leadership & Community
Inspiring Leaders. Strengthening Communities.
Ready to improve your teaching, learning and leadership? Interested in roles that impact schools, organizations and communities – but, most importantly, people of all ages? The faculty of the Department of Learning, Leadership and Community are here to serve, guide and support your journey.
At the graduate level, explore pathways in educational leadership, school psychology, instructional design and learning technologies and student affairs. You’ll find both primarily online and on-campus programs that offer academic rigor along with built-in hands-on learning that advance your expertise.
Passionate about recreation, tourism or nonprofit leadership? Benefit from both undergraduate and graduate degrees which prepare you to enhance lives and promote well-being in community and corporate settings -- indoors and out! Or gain additional skills through minors and certificates that complement your degrees with emphases (including the new addition of esports administration)!
Join us—and discover how the intersection of learning and leadership can build stronger communities.
School Leaders
About 4 in 10 of current Iowa school administrators are UNI graduates.
Nationally Accredited
Recreation, tourism & nonprofit leadership BA program meets accreditation standards.
Undergraduate Programs
Healthy lives, healthy careers
Being outdoors. Living healthy. Working with others in a meaningful way. A degree in recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership offers a foundation that can turn those varied interests into careers with impact.
Coursework and experiences may guide you toward leading a mission-driven nonprofit, crafting a community tourism plan or working with adult and youth programming. The choices are yours to explore.
Choose among three minors to strengthen your skill set:
- The recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership (RTNL) minor provides an entry into the potential of multiple roles serving organizations and the community. This can complement multiple majors at UNI.
- One of the most popular minors at UNI, the social and emotional learning (SEL) minor prepares you for the five SEL competencies in working with students in elementary and secondary education classrooms.
- The esports administration minor lets you pair a passion in gaming with real-world career possibilities, complementing your studies in areas such as communications, recreation, education, event planning, coaching and more.
Certificates give you credit for additional coursework with a specific emphasis, adding to your studies in general and expanding your skills and marketability.
With recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership, this include certificates in:
Interested in esports? Add to your choice of majors, build toward the minor or take both to explore and have a fun way to stay in the game with your studies!
Healthy lives, healthy careers
Being outdoors. Living healthy. Working with others in a meaningful way. A degree in recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership offers a foundation that can turn those varied interests into careers with impact.
Coursework and experiences may guide you toward leading a mission-driven nonprofit, crafting a community tourism plan or working with adult and youth programming. The choices are yours to explore.
Choose among three minors to strengthen your skill set:
- The recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership (RTNL) minor provides an entry into the potential of multiple roles serving organizations and the community. This can complement multiple majors at UNI.
- One of the most popular minors at UNI, the social and emotional learning (SEL) minor prepares you for the five SEL competencies in working with students in elementary and secondary education classrooms.
- The esports administration minor lets you pair a passion in gaming with real-world career possibilities, complementing your studies in areas such as communications, recreation, education, event planning, coaching and more.
Certificates give you credit for additional coursework with a specific emphasis, adding to your studies in general and expanding your skills and marketability.
With recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership, this include certificates in:
Interested in esports? Add to your choice of majors, build toward the minor or take both to explore and have a fun way to stay in the game with your studies!
Graduate Education
A foundation for leadership
An estimated 30 percent of Iowa’s school administrators are graduates of one of our educational leadership programs. By enrolling in a UNI program, you get access to faculty who lead from experience and share a commitment to educational integrity, ethics and lifelong learning. All within a primarily online format that affords you the flexibility practicing professionals need.
Principalship MAE
Principalship ASC
Superintendency Certificate
For International Educators
Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership
Impacting higher ed
Helping others solve problems and accomplish goals is at the heart of careers in postsecondary student affairs. This growing program is an online master's program meant to advance in a career which promises truly meaningful work, along with an online intensive study area at the doctoral level.
Postsecondary Student Affairs MA
Doctoral Studies in Student Affairs
Meeting a critical need
With an ongoing 100 percent placement of our graduates, the School Psychology program leading to an EdS is a longtime leader in preparing future professionals to fill a critical need. Led by licensed school psychologists, this program emphasizes practical experience within a curriculum focused on evidence-based interventions and assessment.
A foundation for leadership
An estimated 30 percent of Iowa’s school administrators are graduates of one of our educational leadership programs. By enrolling in a UNI program, you get access to faculty who lead from experience and share a commitment to educational integrity, ethics and lifelong learning. All within a primarily online format that affords you the flexibility practicing professionals need.
Principalship MAE
Principalship ASC
Superintendency Certificate
For International Educators
Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership
Impacting higher ed
Helping others solve problems and accomplish goals is at the heart of careers in postsecondary student affairs. This growing program is an online master's program meant to advance in a career which promises truly meaningful work, along with an online intensive study area at the doctoral level.
Postsecondary Student Affairs MA
Doctoral Studies in Student Affairs
Meeting a critical need
With an ongoing 100 percent placement of our graduates, the School Psychology program leading to an EdS is a longtime leader in preparing future professionals to fill a critical need. Led by licensed school psychologists, this program emphasizes practical experience within a curriculum focused on evidence-based interventions and assessment.
Special Initiatives
Professor Mary Sult guides the educational outreach of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL). This includes annual conferences in partnership with the Iowa Superintendents Finance and Leadership Consortium over the past 20 years. The Learning and Leading with Character program supports educational leaders across the state, particularly in rural districts. Focused on ethical, character-driven leadership, it’s a model being shared nationally and internationally.
Community Impact
The UNI Office of Community Engagement, directed by Julianne Gassman, professor of recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership, connects faculty and students with community projects and volunteer opportunities.