Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration

Student Advisory Worksheet

Overview

The Doctor of Education (Ed.D) degree in Higher Education Administration is designed for entering and experienced educators who seek advanced professional preparation for managing and administering programs and services in colleges and universities. Students who are interested in higher education leadership may specialize in either community or technical college leadership, leadership at four-year institutions or student affairs. The specializations are designed for entering and experienced educators who seek advanced professional preparation for managing, administering, and leading community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities and student services. The program in higher education administration links theoretical and conceptual concepts to the day-to-day management decisions that must be addressed by successful leaders in colleges and universities. Most of the courses in the program are offered once a week during the late afternoon or evening hours. Some courses are available in the summer sessions and through distance education technologies.

Course of Study

There are four major areas of course work: core courses, specialization in higher education administration which includes an interdisciplinary component, research courses, and the dissertation. In addition, all graduate students are expected to pass the Adult and Higher Education technology competencies through a testing out procedure. Further information is noted on the department's technology web page.

The program has a 72-credit-hour minimum requirement. Up to 18 credit hours from the master's degree may count towards the doctorate. Please note the policy for transferring credit hours.

1. Core Courses (12 hours)

* To be taken at the beginning of the program

EAC 716 - History of Higher Education in the United States (3 hrs.)
EAC 787 - Organizational Theory & Concepts in Higher Education(3 hrs.)
EAC 778 - Law and Higher Education (3 hrs.)
EAC 749 - Finance and Higher Education (3 hrs.)

2. Specialization (18 hours)

Courses are taken are selected in consultation with each student's advisor and based upon each student's area of specialization. Specializations include a number of areas such as community college leadership, university leadership and student affairs. Students will be expected to pursue 6 hours of work outside the department.

3. Research Competency (12 hours)

Students will be expected to take a minimum of 12 hours in research inquiry, design, and/or methodology courses. As a prerequisite, all students will be expected to either have had an introductory research inquiry course within the last seven years or will be expected to take EAC 595A (Topical Problems: Introduction to Research in Adult & Higher Education) or equivalent as the first course in their research sequence. This introductory inquiry course will not count toward the 12 hours of doctoral level research hours.

Doctoral students will be expected to have identified their dissertation research problem, research inquiry method, conceptual framework as well as started their literature review during the early to mid-portion of their coursework. The intent of the program is for students to develop their skills and knowledge towards becoming thoughtful, self-directed researchers who pursue critical practitioner-scholar inquiry.

For the required minimum of 12 hours, each student will be expected to take 3 semester hours of statistics (in their early coursework) and then select 9 semester hours from one of the two research paradigms below (quantitative or qualitative).

Statistics (3 hours)

ST 507 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences I - OR -
ST 508 - Statistics for Behavioral Science II
ST 511 - OR - Equivalent statistics course as approved by student's advisor.

A. Quantitative Research Dissertation Focus - (9 hours)

In consultation with their advisor, each student will select 9 hours of quantitative research courses that will prepare them to conduct doctoral dissertation research. - OR -

B. Qualitative Research Dissertation Focus - (9 hours)

In consultation with their advisor, each student will select 9 hours of qualitative research courses that will prepare them to conduct doctoral dissertation research.

4. Dissertation Component (12 hours)

EAC 895 - Dissertation Research. A maximum of 12 semester hours of dissertation credit may be applied to a student's graduate plan of work. Students who have not completed dissertation requirements after 12 hours may continue to sign up for dissertation credit, but it will not be applied to their plan of work. After students have been advanced to candidacy, they must be enrolled in a minimum of 3 semester hours of EAC 895 each semester (except summer) until all dissertation requirements are completed.

5. Preliminary Written and Oral Examination

[Effective October 2006 for all new 2006 entry doctoral students]
Each doctoral student is required to take preliminary examinations, consisting of written examinations and an oral examination, no earlier than the end of the second year of graduate study. Preliminary examinations are evaluated on a pass or fail basis. To be admitted to candidacy the student must pass both the written and oral preliminary examinations.

A. Preliminary Written Examination
Within four (4) semesters of entry into the doctoral program, students will undertake the preliminary written examination, which will include examination across the following broad areas:

History of Higher Education
Finance in Higher Education
Organization and Administration in Higher Education

In general, students are expected to possess knowledge of scholarship and theory in the field of Higher Education and to identify and explain patterns, themes, practices, and policies pertinent to Higher Education, as well as apply theories to Higher Education practice. Some or all of these expectations will be tested in the written examination in one or more of the three question areas.

The preliminary written examination is evaluated on a pass or fail basis for each question area to indicate the student’s comprehension and ability to communicate knowledge clearly and appropriately on the question posed. Students who do not pass the written examination may re-take the examination once. If they have passed two of the question areas on their first attempt at the examination, they may re-take the question area that was not passed under the supervision of a higher education faculty member at a date mutually agreed to by the student and that faculty member. If they again do not pass that section, they will have failed the preliminary examination and have no option to re-take the examination.

Students who do not pass two or three of the question areas on their first attempt may re-write the entire examination (all three question areas) at the next formal examination date. Students who intend to retake the examination must do so in the following semester. If the student does not pass all three question areas during this second examination session, they will have failed the written preliminary examination. The Higher Education program administers a standardized examination on campus two times a year. Under unusual circumstances, examinations may be written off campus under the supervision of an individual approved by the Director of Graduate Programs.

Students are expected to work closely with their advisor in their preparation for the preliminary written examination and with their dissertation chair (advisor) for the oral preliminary examination. For preliminary written examinations, students may work in study groups, and it is recommended that they commence preparation at least a semester before the written examination date. Faculty members responsible for the preparation of the examination question are available for consultation with students and faculty advisors will know the names of these faculty. Questions in each area will likely differ; for example, one question may ask students to identify and explain a particular pattern in higher education and another may ask students to apply theory to actual behaviors in higher education. It is important that the responses address the questions asked, and that these responses be in standard acceptable prose, in a style that conforms to academic writing (for example, the use of citations). Because the time frame for responses is limited to approximately 1.5 hours for each question area, responses must be concise, to the point, and well organized. The program’s expectation is that students will give an informed response to questions in clear prose to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject area.

A passing grade for the question area will include, but is not limited to, such matters as: a) is the question posed actually answered? b) is the answer well-articulated—that is, organized, clear and convincing? and c) does the answer demonstrate a scholarly understanding of the topic, that is, knowledge of the literature? While memorization is not a goal for this examination, students should be able to cite the names and dates of specific scholars and cite other pertinent information, such as historical actions and theories.

For the preliminary oral examination, students will work closely with their dissertation supervisor to prepare a proposal that meets the expectations of the dissertation committee. Students need to be mindful of graduate school requirements, which include giving notice of the oral examination and securing a graduate school representative.

B. Preliminary Oral Examination
The preliminary oral examination is undertaken at the end of the doctoral student’s program, once all course work has been completed. The purpose of the oral preliminary examination is for the student to demonstrate mastery of a body or bodies of literature relevant to the study of Higher Education and appropriate knowledge of a research methodology and design to conduct research. To these ends, the preliminary oral examination will test the student’s knowledge and abilities through a research proposal presentation. The written proposal must, as a minimum, articulate and explain a research problem and include the following components: the purpose and significance of the study, an abbreviated review of the literature, the conceptual or theoretical frameworks for the research, the research design and methods, including discussion of the analysis of data, and a list of references.

6. Candidacy
If the preliminary oral examination is passed, then the student is considered a doctoral candidate. The expectation at this point is that the student will undertake dissertation research and complete a doctoral dissertation under the guidance of a dissertation supervisor with support from the dissertation committee.

Contact:

Dr. Audrey J. Jaeger
Associate Professor
Department of Adult and Higher Education
310 Poe Hall, Campus Box 7801
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7801
Phone: (919) 515-6240
Fax: (919) 515-6294
audrey_jaeger@ncsu.edu

 

DEPARTMENTAL ADDRESS &
CONTACT INFO

Dept. of Adult & Higher Ed

Poe 300, Box 7801

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, N.C. 276195-7801

919.515.6241