Studies have found that in higher education institutions in the United States of America, a variety of resources, student engagement, institutional practices, and other stakeholders contribute to students’ perceptions of becoming positive change agents. This project explores how the Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC) program at Rutgers University-Newark (RUN), New Jersey capitalizes on resources, leadership, curriculum, and other strategies to promote students' perception to become positive change agents. Secondary research from a survey completed by the HLLC graduates was utilized for this project. As a descriptive study, survey responses were coded and evaluated to determine the HLLC’s impact on students’ perception on becoming positive change agents. The study found that the HLLC program at RUN successfully promotes students' perception to become positive change agents. The HLLC program achieves this through its curricular structure, which integrates academic rigor with community engagement, and a strong emphasis on leadership development. The HLLC’s success in developing positive change agents has practical implications for institutions of higher education. Other universities could consider replicating the HLLC 's unique curricular structure and community engagement strategies to promote leadership development and cultivate positive change agents among their graduates.

Higher education institutions are positioned to meet the rising need for students to become positive change agents. Change agents does not only benefit an individual but his/her community at large.  The quality of  a curriculum and it’s delivery to build and nurture skills are critical drivers of becoming  a positive change agent. The 2016 and 2017 Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC) at Rutgers University – Newark (RU-N), in Newark, New Jersey, was the population for this study. This is the first comprehensive study aimed to obtain the perceived experience of graduates since the origin of the program in 2015. A survey was conducted to evaluate the extent the curriculum contributes to skill enhancement to become change agents, and provide recommendations for the HLLC curriculum enhancement to prepare students to become change agents. A 5-point Likert scale ranking from not at all important to extremely important was included to determine the importance of the skills needed to be a change agent. The Cronbach alph of the survey was .87, revealing an excellent level of internal consistency among indicators of change agents outcome. The study findings revealed that the HLLC curriculum and resources prepared its students to become positive change agents. Students provided recommendations to enhance the HLLC curriculum. Other higher learning institutions may consider either creating or adopting similar curriculum structures and provide resources  to equip students with the necessary skills or competencies to promote students’ perceptions to become change agents.