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Doctorate Degree Programs in Education

Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership

For detailed descriptions of each course, click on the course number to view details.

Core Courses:

Core 1
Examines classical and contemporary theories and styles of leadership and their application to a variety of professional and global settings. Students will examine principal underpinnings of leadership, such as one's values, philosophy of life, and beliefs about the nature of humankind

EDOL 700 Leadership Theory and Practice (3)

This course addresses organizations, their structures, intended outcomes and how they deal with culture, employee behavior, and values. Students will examine strategies designed to create and evaluate knowledge, including the psychological basis for human action, individual and organizational learning, communicating across cultures, and intellectual capital. This course also examines such topics as communication, motivation, work teams, organizational change, stress, power, influence, and trust.

EDOL 714 Organizational Behavior, Theory and Design (3)

Introduces the student to the study of ethical leadership and provides the foundation for value clarification, ethical decision-making and responsible leadership in diverse organizations and communities. In addition, the course introduces students to the concepts, skills, and strategies of personal/professional transformation that are the foundation of leading organizations in diverse communities. Topics include personal vision, establishing a proactive stance, service, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, creating a context for innovation, and maintaining happiness and personal well-being.

EDOL 724 Ethics and Personal Leadership (3)

This course focuses on current change theory, futurist literature, and major world trends in education and related disciplines. Topics include models of collaboration, innovation, design, implementation and organizational change.

EDOL 765 Strategic Leadership and Management of Global Change (3)
Core 2
Students will learn the basic distributions, such as binomial and normal and are introduced to hypothesis methodology. They will learn to apply such inferential techniques as chi-square, the analysis of variance and covariance, and multivariate analysis to a variety of organizational issues and scholarly pursuits. Students will be expected to utilize appropriate statistical software.

EDOL 734 Advanced Data Analysis and Interpretation (3)

In this course, students will learn in theory and practice how to design, conduct, analyze, and interpret experimental, quasi-experimental, and survey procedures for organizational research and evaluation. Methods of assessing credibility of published research will also be discussed. Students will focus on measurement and statistical description of variables. Students will be expected to utilize appropriate statistical software.

EDOL 766 Research Design and Analysis (3)

This course introduces students to qualitative research designs and such topics as the collection and interpretation of qualitative data and the methods of minimizing threats to the trustworthiness and authenticity of qualitative studies. Students learn specific techniques for the analysis and interpretation of qualitative data. Students will be expected to utilize appropriate content analysis software.

EDOL 767 Qualitative Research and Analysis (3)

The following 27 units of specialized course work are required in addition to the 21 units of core courses, the comprehensive examination seminar, and the dissertation:

This course introduces major theories and approaches to leading the effort and developing policy in local, national, and global settings. While considering the influence of technology and systems thinking, students explore complex issues in management and leadership. Students will have an opportunity to understand and practice policy development at local and national levels.

EDOL 753 Leadership, Advocacy, and Policy Development (4)

Students learn to apply theories and principles of micro and macroeconomics to analyze, design, and evaluate policies which address business, political, and educational challenges at the national level. Additional topics examined include alternative economic distribution systems and how they address pollution, poverty, unemployment, international trade, and geopolitical issues.

EDOL 754A Economic and Political Systems (3)

To gain an international perspective on policy development, students will visit an international location, meet local and national leaders, and observe and examine industries and organizations such as healthcare, schools, universities, and manufacturing and contrast them with those of the United States. Students are required to participate in a trip to an international location. Students will incur travel costs. (Varies in relation to airline, hotel, food, venue, and materials.)

EDOL 754B International Policy Experience (2)

This course focuses on the fundamentals of leading the design and implementation of learning technology within the organization. Students are exposed to an integrated approach to educational program design and evaluation at the organizational level. Topics may include computer-supported collaborative learning, synchronous and asynchronous technology, technically-mediated communities, knowledge management, learning organizations, and designing computer-supported programs that support organizational infrastructure.

EDOL 755 E-Learning: Theory and Practice (3)

New venture creation, theory, strategy, and practice for organizational leaders are explored. Students will conduct a comprehensive study of the process of shepherding an entrepreneurial idea from formulation to fruition by forming new ventures in for-profit, not-for-profit, and philanthropic organizations.

EDOL 757 Entrepreneurship (2)

Allows students to apply their knowledge, skills, and values to a real-world problem. Students identify a project-based issue, concern, or problem; identify a set of strategies to meet the projected goals; seek the assistance of a mentor in achieving the goals; and begin to implement strategies to achieve a solution to the issue or problem. The issue for study can be identified during the first academic year. The consultancy course spans more than one semester and includes plan preparation and approval, implementation of the plan, presentation of results to clients, and an evaluation of the projects. Consulting topics may serve as a basis for comprehensive exam topics. Full completion of the Consultancy Project sequence requires completion of each sub-course: 758A & 764.

EDOL 758A Consultancy Project (1)

This course examines environmental forces that impact the organization with an emphasis on applicable legal issues. The course emphasizes developing an understanding of law as a basis for critical examination of legal, political, and regulatory processes and issues confronting organizations. Topics in the course include intellectual property law, torts, criminal and contract liability, the laws regarding electronic communication, encryption, Internet security, and ethics in cyberspace. Dispute resolution and negotiation techniques are also included.

EDOL 759 Law and Dispute Resolution (3)

The course will help students analyze, design, develop, implement and evaluate instruction for a variety of content areas and audiences, using various media or delivery systems. Students will have the opportunity to learn and practice basic principles and techniques of instructional design, In the process, they will design and develop a module of instruction. During the course, various instructional design procedures and models will be considered, and the fist of instruction within the larger realm of human performance will be discussed.

EDOL 763 Program Learning Design and Evaluation (3)

Allows students to apply their knowledge, skills, and values to a real-world problem. Students identify a project-based issue, concern, or problem; identify a set of strategies to meet the projected goals; seek the assistance of a mentor in achieving the goals; and begin to implement strategies to achieve a solution to the issue or problem. The issue for study can be identified during the first academic year. The consultancy course spans more than one semester and includes plan preparation and approval, implementation of the plan, presentation of results to clients, and an evaluation of the projects. Consulting topics may serve as a basis for comprehensive exam topics. Full completion of the Consultancy Project sequence requires completion of each sub-course: 758A & 764.

EDOL 764 Consultancy Project (3)

In this course, students examine several of a broad range of contemporary topics. Examples of possible topics are strategic management, institutional advancement, societal factors affecting education, board/administration relationships, advanced product development, networking, legal aspects of development, and consultancies.

EDOL 785 Contemporary Topics (1)
Professional Clear (Tier II) Administrative Services Credential
Students pursuing the Tier II credential in conjunction with this program must enroll in:
Provides students admitted to the preparation program leading to the Professional Administrative Services Credential (Tier II) with assistance in planning an individualized program of study based upon the candidate's need for further professional preparation and development. A pre-assessment is conducted in coordination with the student's employer.

ED 722 Program Planning and Induction Seminar (2)

Assesses the competence of the candidate for the Professional Administrative Services Credential. The student enrolls in the seminar after all elements of the individualized program are completed. During the seminar, the representative of the employing school district, the candidate 's mentor (if different), and the University advisor participate in a summative evaluation conference with the candidate. The candidate presents a professional portfolio that includes a summary of university and non-university activities and a description of how the individualized program plan was addressed by those activities.

ED 723 Candidate Assessment Seminar (2)

Mara Leigh Taylor (MA '03, MA '06) founded Getting Out By Going In after more than five years of volunteer work inside prisons, teaching more than 600 inmates tools for rapid and lasting changes, and recently authored a book titled Women in Prison: Women Finding Freedom.