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League of the Rising Hawks

League of the Rising Hawks badge

League of the Rising Hawks - Self-Awareness and Personal Development badgeLeague of the Rising Hawks - Leadership and Professional Development badge

League of the Rising Hawks - Civic and Social Responsibility badgeLeague of the Rising Hawks - Learning and Reasoning badge

League of the Rising Hawks is an initiative dedicated to student success and creating a unique campus culture that engages students through co-curricular experiences. Students will be challenged to become more engaged with UHCL departments and campus activities to achieve student learning competencies and distinctions. At the completion of the League of the Rising Hawks experience, students will reflect upon their involvement and earn a graduation stole.

League of the Rising Hawks was established by the Division of Student Affairs as a co-curricular experience for student success, retention, and celebration. It allows students to choose engaging educational programs and experiences to help students achieve their specific goals.

Through League of the Rising Hawks, students will gain the following distinctions:

  • Self–awareness and personal development.
  • Leadership and professional development.
  • Civic and social responsibility.
  • Learning and reasoning.

Program Overview

League of the Rising Hawks requires students to participate in various co-curricular programs/activities during their time at UHCL. Get Involved serves as the platform to record all co-curricular experiences that count towards completion of the program. All records of student involvement will be uploaded through the Get Involved platform.

Students will have four distinctions to complete. At the completion of each distinction, students must submit a reflection that describes their experiences and learning outcomes through the process. A total of four reflections must be submitted, in addition to a final capstone to complete all requirements for the League of the Rising Hawks.

Photo of UHCL students in study area

Student Process

  • Students must meet at least 3 out 4 learning outcomes per distinction.
  • Students must attend at least 12 unique experiences on the path.
  • Students must submit a reflection to earn every distinction.
  • Students are provided a self-reported option for competency credit (only 1 per distinction).
  • Students must complete a capstone: integration of learning experience from all distinctions.
  • All components (12 experiences, 4 reflections per distinction, capstone) must be submitted by the student in order to earn designation as a League of the Rising Hawk! 
  • Students are invited to a celebration event to share their capstones and earn their League of the Rising Hawk stole.

Completion Requirements

  • Participate in a minimum of 12 different co-curricular experiences (programs, workshops, educational trainings, etc.) that are approved as a League of the Rising Hawks Experience.
  • Record all League of the Rising Hawks Experiences and upload supporting documents on Get Involved.
  • Complete and upload required reflections on Get Involved for each of the four distinctions related to the experiences and learning outcomes.
  • Complete a capstone experience approved through the League of the Rising Hawks.

Recognition

Each student that receives the League of the Rising Hawks designation will receive a graduation stole.

Why Participate

  • Develop and enhance leadership skills
  • Networking and relationship-building in the UHCL community
  • Preparation for future leadership roles
  • Develop self-awareness and personal growth

League of the Rising Hawks Distinctions

Through the League of the Rising Hawks, students will gain the following distinctions and competencies:

Self-Awareness and Personal Development

Self-Awareness and Personal Development: The process of individual discovery through reflection and learning about oneself.

  • Emotional intelligence - Ability to understand and manage one's own emotions and behaviors as well as recognizing the influence on others
  • Authenticity – Ability to understand and is true to one's own personality, spirit, or character, despite external pressures
  • Identity development– Ability to have a strong and stable sense of self across a range of dimensions (i.e. spirituality, culture, gender) to understand how we see ourselves and how others see us
  • Health and wellbeing– Ability to expand personal growth and development in multiple dimensions of wellness to lead a healthy lifestyle

League of the Rising Hawks - Self-Awareness and Personal Development badge

Leadership and Professional Development

Leadership and Professional Development: Recognize and capitalize on personal and team strengths to achieve organizational goals.

  • Meaningful relationships – Ability to establish and cultivate productive, mutually beneficial relationships with others that supports a trusting and caring environment 
  • Communication - Ability to clearly and effectively engage in active listening, verbal and non-verbal communication with others from a variety of perspectives and experiences   
  • Teamwork – Ability to build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively towards a shared vision 
  • Empowerment- Ability to share power, information, and resources to create ownership in a task or process

League of the Rising Hawks - Leadership and Professional Development badge

Civic and Social Responsibility

Civic and Social Responsibility - Understanding the needs and issues within a community to become an informed and engaged citizen.

  • Connection and belonging- Ability to demonstrate awareness, attitude, and knowledge to engage others from different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences
  • Active citizenship- Ability to build awareness and engage with communities in community which they are involved
  • Global perspective – Ability to maintain the skills, values, and behaviors to engage in a diverse and interconnected world
  • Advocacy – Ability to support various persons, groups, or causes within societal structures and systems that are different from oneself

League of the Rising Hawks - Civic and Social Responsibility badge

Learning and Reasoning

Learning and Reasoning – A level of cognitive thinking that provides the capacity to reflect on experiences to apply learning in the future.

  • Meaning-making - Ability to understand the importance of making sense of experiences, people, and surroundings
  • Problem solving and decision-making - Ability to identify and process a range of situations to achieve successful and productive outcomes
  • Critical and Reflective Thinking – Ability to synthesize information based on situational context and analysis to make logical and informed decisions
  • Evaluation and Analysis – Ability to organize and process information to determine usefulness and impact

League of the Rising Hawks - Learning and Reasoning badge

Capstone Experience

Once you have completed all four of the distinctions, your final step is the Capstone Experience.  For your final Capstone, you will be asked to present your student experience in front of your peers and a review team. 

Capstone Experience Presentation Guidelines:
  • Must use a PowerPoint presentation format
  • Must describe and portray your collective learning and student experience during the completion of each of the four distinctions 
  • Must include exactly twenty slides in the presentation 
  • No text may be included on the slides – only images may be used
  • When presenting, you must speak to each slide/image and how it represents a part of your learning and student experience through the LOTRH 
  • 10-minute max presentation time 
  • One Image should be allotted per slide (for a total of twenty images) 
    • The Images used may be personal and/or reflective of LOTRH programs, workshops, and/or experiences you have participated in during your time at UHCL 
    • You must have permission to utilize each image

Any individual requiring an accommodation in order to participate in this Capstone presentation format will need to contact the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership at 281.283.2560 or via email at getinvolved@uhcl.edu two weeks in advance.


Program Contact Information

Division of Student Affairs
Office of Student Involvement and Leadership
Email: getinvolved@uhcl.edu
Phone: 281-283-2560

Additional Information

Implementation of the League of the Rising Hawks creates alignment to all student programmatic initiatives with the UHCL Division of Student Affairs Mission, Vision, and Strategic Initiatives, UHCL Core Values, and the UHCL Impact 2025 Strategic Goals.

Contact

  • Division of Student Affairs

    Email: StudentAffairs@uhcl.edu

    Bayou Building 2523
    2700 Bay Area Blvd
    Houston, TX 77058-1002

    Phone: 281-283-3025