Admission
Please refer to “The Graduate Admissions Process” section for general graduate admission information. For admission to the Doctor of Education program, applicants must satisfactorily complete credential screening and a committee interview, including a written component. All applicants must also submit the following:
- Completed graduate (Ed.D.) application accompanied by a non-refundable application fee.
- Official transcripts from a regionally accredited college or university verifying completion of a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Send official transcript(s) directly to Wilmington University Graduate Admissions Office from the identified college or university.
- Three letters of recommendation.
- Written statement of professional and academic interest and intent.
- Résumé.
- International students only: the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).
All of the above documents should be sent directly to the Graduate Admissions Office.
Purpose
The doctoral program in Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation facilitates the professional development of all organizational personnel connected with any educational aspect of their organization to include chief educational officers, corporate trainers and private and corporate consultants, as well as personnel who desire to become innovative leaders. The Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation program prepares students to translate research into effective systems of instruction, supervision and leadership. It features a core of studies, a field component, and a dissertation/capstone project. This program of studies meets the needs of private and post-secondary educators, as well as corporate trainers and other professionals.
The program format allows for completion of course work in just over three years, even though students attend classes only once a week. Some classes may also be offered in a hybrid or online format which will include both face to face and on-line instruction. Courses are taught by both full-time and adjunct faculty who are experts in their fields, providing an insight into innovative, leading-edge theories and practices.
Program Competencies
Graduates in the Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation of the Ed.D. program are expected to meet the following program competencies through attainment of the competencies detailed in specific course objectives:
- Articulate and model core beliefs of the organization and effectively demonstrate how to take action to achieve the organization’s vision, mission, and goals.
- Promote a positive organizational culture and design comprehensive professional growth plans for staff.
- Manage the organization, operations, and resources in a way that promotes a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
- Collaborate with employees and other members of the greater learning community and respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources.
- Act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
- Understand, respond to, and influence the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.
- Provide significant opportunities for candidates to synthesize and apply the knowledge, and practice and develop the skills in Competencies 1-6 through substantial, standards-based work in real settings, planned and guided cooperatively by the institution and organization personnel.
- Demonstrate an ability to use information and information technologies to enhance the effective utilization and practice of educational research.
- Generate ideas, processes and procedures that are innovative and challenge the status quo of a particular group or organization.
Program Design
The Doctor of Education program in Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation is designed to combine theory, practice, and inquiry to enhance students’ innovation and leadership skills. The program has three major features. One is a core program of coursework that includes content and research courses.
A second feature consists of a field component consisting of 3 courses for 9 credit hours. The field components provide students the opportunity to engage in problem-based experiences outside the classroom setting that complement their program coursework. The field component aspect provides the opportunity for the student to apply the knowledge and theory learned in the core courses to the solution of specific problems, in an organizational setting. Candidates are expected to complete a minimum of 120 internship hours to satisfy the field component.
The third feature of the program is an applied research component consisting of 9 credit hours and the dissertation/capstone project that serves as a culminating activity for all previously completed courses and the field components. Students must be raised to candidacy before beginning the dissertation/capstone component of the program. The doctoral dissertation/capstone project totals nine credit hours. The research should demonstrate the student’s design and analytical skills, as well as the student’s ability to write for a professional audience.
Program Requirements
Students are expected to successfully complete the five following program phases:
| Phase I: |
Admission (completing the application procedures) |
| Phase II: |
Course Completion including Electives (completing a minimum of 36 credits hours) |
| Phase III: |
Field Component Completion (completing a minimum of 9 credit hours) |
| Phase IV: |
Degree Candidacy (completing degree candidacy review which includes completion of Phases II and III, a written content assessment and candidacy meeting with faculty advisors) |
| Phase V: |
Dissertation/Capstone Project Completion (completing the dissertation/capstone project and related oral presentation - 9 credit hours) |
Course Requirements
Choose either:
| EDD 7208 | Adult Development and Leadership | 3 |
| OR | |
| EDD 7403 | Problem-Centered Research II | 3 |
EDD 9004: if needed – 0 credits ½ tuition
The dissertation will be supervised by a committee mutually agreed upon between the student and his or her advisor (9 credits).
To qualify for the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree, a student must complete the prescribed 57-credit hour program with a minimum 3.0 grade point index. A culminating dissertation/capstone project is required. Course work and the dissertation/capstone project should be completed in just over three years. In addition, candidates are required to complete 120 internship hours over a three year period and a portfolio of activities that tie-in with the NCATE/ELCC standards. During the third year, a Content Assessment Test is given that also ties in with the NCATE/ELCC standards with practical applications and must be passed by the student. The entire program must be completed within seven years. If the program is not completed within a seven-year period, a petition for reinstatement is necessary. Students will need to formally reapply to the program if they have a leave of absence of more than a year. Students may need to re-take two of the research courses or Disciplined Inquiry course(s) to be reinstated if they have more than a two-year leave of absence.