Is this right for us?
The questions worth asking first.
Bringing a new program to campus is a real decision, even when it costs nothing. These pages answer what administrators actually ask us, plainly, and without needing you to take our word for it.
Start with the part that surprises people: hosting a chapter costs your institution nothing. There are no dues and no fees. The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) is funded by the students who choose to join, so the decision in front of you is not a spending decision.
That means the questions that matter are different from the ones you would ask about a purchase. Will this reach the students we are worried about? Can our staff support it without falling behind? How does it get recognized here? Who else needs to be part of the conversation?
Those are the questions below. Where the NSLS has published an answer, we give it and link the source, so you can check it rather than take it on trust.
Start where your question is
Seven things administrators ask us
What makes a leadership program work on a campus
The handful of things that actually determine whether students finish it, and which ones you can tell from the outside.
Building your own, or bringing one in
Some campuses should build. Here is how to tell which kind of campus you have.
Questions worth asking us
What to ask, what a straight answer sounds like, and where the NSLS has published one.
What to confirm before you commit
A short list to work through with your own offices, so nothing surfaces late.
How a chapter gets recognized on campus
The pathways campuses use, what governs them, and what to check in your own policies.
Bringing your colleagues along
Who needs to say yes, who simply needs to not object, and how to open each conversation.
Getting it approved
There is no spending to approve, which changes the conversation. Here is what to bring instead.
What it takes
Your campus brings two things
Everything else is on us. That is the whole design: a program that lifts engagement and retention with a published advisor commitment of 10–20 hours per semester.
An advisor
Roughly 10 to 20 hours per semester. Chapters are student-led, so the advisor supports a student executive board rather than running programming.
Recognition on campus
A way for the chapter to exist in your structure, usually the same pathway as any other student organization, though some campuses house it academically.
And from the NSLS
The curriculum, the platform, executive board training, six speaker broadcasts a year, marketing materials, and a dedicated success team.
Advisor time and what is included are published on the NSLS program overview. More detail on what's included and the advisor commitment.
If it isn't your call
Take this to your dean
Plenty of these conversations begin with someone who saw the need before they had the authority to act on it. If that is you, the useful thing to carry into that meeting is short: this reaches students we are currently missing, it costs the institution nothing, and it asks about 10 to 20 hours a semester from one advisor.
Common questions
What does it cost our institution to host a chapter?
Nothing. There are no chapter dues and no fees to your institution. The NSLS is funded by students who choose to accept their nomination and join, and by optional purchases such as the NSLS Shop. What your campus provides is an advisor and recognition for the chapter.
What does our campus actually have to provide?
An advisor who spends roughly 10 to 20 hours per semester, and a way for the chapter to be recognized on campus. The NSLS provides the curriculum, the platform, executive board training, six speaker broadcasts a year, marketing materials, and a dedicated success team.
How do we know whether it fits our students?
Start with the students you are trying to reach. The program works through small peer groups and a structured sequence students complete in about ten hours over a semester, which suits commuter, part-time, and online populations as well as residential ones. It is delivered in person, virtually, or fully asynchronously.
I am not the person who can approve this. Is it worth looking into?
Yes, and it is often how these conversations start. Career services, student success, and advising colleagues usually notice the need first. These pages are written so you can hand them to a dean or director with the answers already in them.
How long does it take to get a chapter running?
Most of the timeline is your own approval and recognition process rather than anything on our side. Once a chapter is set up, students move through the five steps and are inducted, typically within one semester.
Talk through your campus goals
Explore the program, responsibilities, and next steps with our partnerships team.