Community College Leadership Program (EdD)

The degree program leading to a Doctor of Education in Community College Leadership is designed to prepare students for senior level leadership roles and professorial positions within the community college setting. 

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Program Vision and Mission

Vision

To provide an environment that nurtures, enhances, and teaches the emerging cadre of 21st century leaders for the community and technical colleges in our nation.

Mission

To provide essential instruction of leadership competencies necessary for the emerging 21st century community and technical college leader. 

• To increase diversity in community and technical college leadership.
• To strengthen the role and voice of future administrators and faculty at community and technical colleges.
• To enhance the intellectual, cultural, social, and ethical potential of scholars and faculty as they pursue upward mobility in community and technical colleges.
• To expand the context and content of leadership development by exposing scholars to a cohort learning environment.
• To enrich scholars with the ability to research relevant topics facing America’s community and technical colleges, and to add to the existing literature that informs policy and practice.
• To seek opportunities to expand course offerings, locations, and services for the graduates of the program.

Competencies for Community College Leaders

Institutional and Cultural Awareness

• Embraces the mission, vision, and values of the community college.
• Respects and values the institution's past and present, always with any eye toward the future.
• Actively focuses on ways to eliminate structural bias in the institution's design so that all students, regardless of their personal circumstances, have the resources that they need to achieve their educational goals.

Governance, Local, State, and Federal Policy

• Knowledgeable about how the institution works, as well as local, state, and federal policies and how they impact student success.

Student Success

• Supports student access and success by meeting the students wherever they are so they can achieve their educational goals.

Leadership

• Understands that employee success depends on harnessing individual leadership skills and working as part of a team.

Institutional Transformation

• Understands the importance of implementing profound change within the institution that has significant impact on the communities that the institution serve.

Advocacy

• Understands and embraces the role of champion with regard to public and government relations advocacy and mobilization of stakeholders to support community college core values.

Partnerships and Collaboration

• Cultivates partnerships by investing time in mutually beneficial, ethical relationships where collaboration supports student success

Communication

• Demonstrates effectual communication skills

Educational Learning and Cohort Model

The Educational Leadership Learning and Cohort Model used in the program creates an environment that prepares students to take advantage of many professional opportunities available in the nation's community colleges. Throughout the program of study, the learner investigates and works on issues relevant to community college leadership and instruction. Students work collaboratively in teams to research trends and issues that will aid in the resolution of problems relating to community colleges.

General Requirements

All candidates pursuing the EdD must complete a minimum of fifty-four (54) credit hours at Morgan after admission to the program.

• In addition, all candidates must select a specialized internship in a community college other than their current institution. The internship must be approved prior to the start of the class.
• All doctoral candidates must pass a written comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examination may be repeated only once. To be eligible to take the comprehensive examination, the student must have completed a minimum of 45 credit hours, have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, with no “I” or “F” grades. Grades of “C” are not acceptable.
• Each student must submit a dissertation concept paper at the end of the second year of study. Successful completion of the concept paper triggers the final set of requirements of the program, including the written comprehensive exam, dissertation proposal and defense, IRB approval, and the final defense of the dissertation.
• All students must submit a dissertation study. When the dissertation has been completed to the satisfaction of the committee chairperson, the committee members, in addition to CCLP administrators, and the DASLP department chair, a dissertation defense will be scheduled during which the student must orally defend his/her work before the entire dissertation committee.
• All requirements for the EdD degree must be completed within a period of seven consecutive years. The granting of a leave of absence by the School of Graduate Studies does not automatically extend the time limit. Students must obtain an extension request with the School of Graduate Studies.
• While completing the dissertation phase, students must maintain an active registration with the Office of the Registrar.

Admission

To be eligible for admission to the doctoral program in Community College Leadership, an applicant must meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Master’s degree from an accredited university or college
2. One to three years of higher education work experience, preferably at a community college
3. A cumulative 3.0 GPA in graduate school coursework

 Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements and submitting all the required documents does not guarantee that an offer of admission will be made to the applicant.  The decision of the Program Admissions Committee involves a review and analysis of all the elements of the application as well as the availability of positions in the program.  The committee then recommends to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies that an offer admission should be made based on that review

Candidacy

Students achieve candidacy by successfully passing the Comprehensive Examination and the Proposal Defense. Prior to achieving Candidacy GRAD 993: Pre-Candidacy.  Students are also expected to complete an internship prior to candidacy.

Once a student achieves candidacy, enrollment in any course other than 799, 797, 998, or 997 is generally prohibited.  Students seeking additional skills, knowledge, or a certificate must seek approval through the program up to the School of Graduate Studies.  The request must be accompanied with a revised Plan of Study.

Dissertation Completion

Describe the selection of committee members, general nature of the thesis, other expectations as warranted including the method of defense.

Each student must select a committee chair, as well as two additional committee members. Students are expected to give an oral defense of the proposal and the final dissertation.

For a dissertation to be accepted by the School of Graduate Studies, it must:

• Demonstrate thorough knowledge of prior scholarship, including qualitative or quantitative research relating to the dissertation topic;
• Reveal ability to analyze, critique, interpret, and integrate information from prior scholarship into hypotheses or research questions sufficient to form the basis of a dissertation;
• Reflect use of appropriate research methodology, including current data collection techniques and appropriate data analysis tools including the use of proper statistical applications and other software applications;
• Display findings in a sequential and logical manner, and when needed, through the use of appropriate tables, graphs, or other methods of presenting quantitative or qualitative data;
• Include a coherent discussion of the relationships among the prior scholarship, the hypotheses or research question(s), the findings and data, and the meaning of the results; and
• Reflect a mastery of grammar, punctuation, sentence construction, paragraph formation, and style consistent with requirements outlined and approved in this Handbook.

The School of Graduate Studies reserves the right not to accept dissertations that fail to meet these standards. The general expectation is that the dissertation committee provides assurance that these standards are met and indicates so with the signatures of the members being published in the dissertation.

Additional Requirements

The School of Graduate Studies at Morgan promotes responsible and ethical research among graduate students. Students are cautioned to avoid practices that threaten the integrity of a student’s research, including, but not limited to, falsification or fabrication of data, violations of privacy and confidentiality provisions, conflicts of interest, cheating, plagiarism, and copyright infringements. Unethical research threatens the integrity of academic and scientific enterprise and will subject the student to severe penalties.