The Institute for Leadership Education (ILE) administers the various leadership programs of the college including the High School Leadership Institute and the leadership minor program. Students completing the program graduate with a minor in Leadership Education, receive a certificate of completion, and formal listing on the college transcript.

How is leadership defined at Wartburg College?
The formal definition is, “Taking responsibility for our communities, and making them better through public action.” The foundation of this definition is that leadership connects students to a particular community for purposes of achieving a common goal, and that this can contribute to their academic, civic, social, and personal development. Communities are places and organizations in all societies through which people meet their needs and interact with one another. Communities hold a shared sense of identity and vision for the future.

Leadership education assists students in their personal development as well as making their communities better through their actions. Further, the Wartburg College definition of leadership connects directly to the overall mission of the college, “Wartburg College is dedicated to challenging and nurturing students for lives of leadership and service as a spirited expression of their faith and learning.”