University of Northern Iowa Educational Leadership Program Preparing Iowa Leaders for Tomorrow The Educational Leadership faculty at the University of Northern Iowa develop and nurture reflective Leaders of Learning, Service, and Change who positively impact student achievement and school improvement. At the heart of these critical qualities in both the principal and superintendent preparation programs are the Iowa Standards for School Leaders (ISSL); Shared Vision, Culture of Learning, Management, Family and Community, Ethics, and Societal Context. Through course work and internships requiring over 425 hours in the field supervised with fidelity, UNI's graduates represent 33% of all Iowa administrators in 355 school districts. The challenge for all preparation programs is to continually look forward to the changing challenges for educators. Within the UNI Ed Leadership Programs are external advisory teams made up of current practicing principals and superintendents. These teams meet biannually to review our State approved programs and make suggestions for areas that are emerging to be included in both preparation programs. Smaller groups of practicing administrators are also brought to campus to network with professors annually. Professors attend and present at local, state and national functions and all belong to a networking organization representing the five Iowa university licensure institutions. Initiatives that future administrators will need expertise in that are emerging in Iowa are: assessment alternatives to ITBS/ITED; the importance of formative assessments; 1:1 Laptop Programs which will increase engaged classroom instruction as well as changing technology skills; continued efforts to close the achievement gap; examining the Governor's Blueprint for education that will potentially change practices in evaluation, hiring, teacher preparation, and pay structures for educators; mentoring programs; restructuring high schools; labor negotiations; the School Administration Manager (SAM) project designed to change the role of the principal from managerial leader to the instructional leader, resulting in an increase in time spent on improving teaching and learning; distance learning opportunities; cultural competency ‐ helping administrators work with diverse student populations; facility development driven by educational needs; the reauthorization of No Child left Behind and these implications; the changing demographics in Iowa; and the changing role of parents and community as partners in public school education. Iowa's changing demographics and the desire to have Iowa administrators mirror the communities they will serve, resulted in the UNI Educational Leadership department establishing the Minorities in Leadership Education (MILE) program in 2007. Through this program minority students are awarded partial scholarships in Educational Leadership. This has increased the minority enrollment in the Educational Leadership program and continues to be a focus for the department. It is no mistake that "Change" is one of the three major elements of the UNI program. As this article is being written, discussions that could and will change the content and delivery of principal and superintendent licensure programs at the University of Northern Iowa are taking place somewhere in our world. It is the passion of the professors in this department to identify, understand, and help UNI's principal and superintendent candidates have a firm grasp on the present skills and the passion to also look towards the future. UNI ‐ I am a Leader!