Hancock Student
Leadership Program

Deadline to apply for Spring 2026 is Friday, May 2, 2025

Don’t miss this chance to enhance your leadership potential and join a legacy of excellence at WestConn.

Contact Information

Professor Carol Huang
Director of Hancock Student Leadership Program
Professor of Finance, Ancell School of Business
Email: huangc@wcsu.edu 

Inspire. Lead. Transform.

Develop your ability to inspire, motivate and influence others

The Hancock Student Leadership Program (HSLP) offers you the opportunity to improve your leadership skills, enhance your resume, build your professional networks and further develop your leadership potential.

HSLP provides students with a $1500 award and a highly placed leadership-shadowing field experience with community leaders in either the fall or spring semester.

We look for motivated, energetic and exemplary students from a variety of academic backgrounds. Our student leaders receive:

  • A $1,500.00 stipend
  • Field experience geared toward your major and career interests
  • A shadowing experience in leadership in either an on or an off-campus organizational setting
  • Three (3) credits of Cooperative Education Internship Credits (CED 297) on successful completion of the program
  • A public presentation to showcase your accomplishments

HSLP Eligibility Requirements

  • WCSU full-time undergraduate status and some leadership experience or a strong interest in leadership
  • 3.3 GPA or higher
  • A minimum of 30 and a maximum of 100 credits earned at the time of application

Applications are accepted in two cycles each year: one in the spring and one in the fall. To apply, submit your online application by the deadline. The application includes the following:

  1. An essay (up to 600 words) highlighting your leadership experiences, the challenges you have overcome, and the insights you have gained. Explain why you should be considered for admission to the program and how the experience will contribute to your professional development. The essay must be double-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and formatted on 8.5×11-inch paper with 1-inch margins.
  2. A current resume.
  3. The names and contact information of three professional and/or academic references.

Once applications are received, they are reviewed by the Director of the HSLP and the Dean of the School of Graduate, International and Career Studies or Designee. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews. Upon selection, accepted students will receive detailed instructions on the next steps, including an orientation to the program’s requirements and expectations.

names and contact information of three professional and/or academic references 

Don’t miss this chance to enhance your leadership potential and join a legacy of excellence at WCSU.

Learn firsthand the skills necessary to become successful leaders

The Hancock Student Leadership Program identifies, promotes and fosters student leaders. The program promotes basic understanding of the skills necessary to be effective leaders by helping you to develop ethics, good communication, compassion and empathy, team and community building, creative problem solving, goal setting, conflict resolution, independent thinking and the financial awareness required for sound fiscal stewardship required for budget management.

HSLP’s ultimate goal is to develop strong future leaders by measuring, testing and encouraging resiliency, adaptability and accountability.

We emphasize:

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    Mission/vision articulation
  • WCSU Shield
    Leadership styles and philosophies
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    Supervision, delegation, evaluation and accountability
  • WCSU Shield
    Organizational change and/or evolution
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    Organizational, personal and professional ethics
  • WCSU Shield
    Risk taking and establishing new paradigms in leadership

HSLP meets WCSU’s mission by providing students with:

  • WCSU Shield
    Strong skills in communication, problem solving and critical thinking
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    Opportunities for field experiences in leadership
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    A strong commitment to public service

For Emily Kappel, the numbers added up to a WestConn education

“Kappel has held several positions within the Student Government Association and participated in the Hancock Student Leadership Program, where she had the opportunity to shadow David Zavarelli, the current Vice President of the WCSU Alumni Association.”

READ MORE ➔

Emily Kappel

Emily Kappel '25 | Managerial Accounting and Applied & Computational Mathematics