PULLMAN – In the face of growing community college enrollment and the pending retirements of many college administrators, WSU will allow students who enroll in its Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program to specialize in community college leadership.
The new program is designed to appeal to those who work in community colleges or are interested in moving into administrative positions in that setting.
Community college administrators face special challenges, said Associate Professor Kelly Ward, who is coordinating the program. Their funding structures are different and their schools have a dual mission, some students are seeking career training while others are using the community college as a stepping stone to four-year colleges and universities.
“The students tend to be older and more diverse,” Ward said. “Most of them have full-time jobs, and are in school part-time.”
The Ed.D. degree is designed to meet the needs of working professionals. Students are admitted in cohorts, meaning they will go through the program together, taking all the same courses each semester. The classes will be delivered through a combination of face-to-face weekend seminars to be held on WSU’s Spokane campus, complemented by on-line instruction during the fall and spring semesters, and two-week intensive sessions held in Pullman. The program is designed to be completed in three and a half years.
Applications for those interested in the community college leadership specialization are due Feb. 15, with classes beginning in June. A detailed description of the program is available on-line at http://education.wsu.edu/graduate/.
More information about graduate study in WSU’s College of Education is available from Angie Hammond at 509-335-9194, or angiehammond@wsu.edu. For specific questions about the curriculum, contact Ward at 509-335-4702, or kaward@wsu.edu.
