Southeastern Louisiana University

Educators, please note: The new doctoral degree (Ed.D) program in Educational Leadership will begin enrolling students in fall 2006. For more information and an application packet, contact the Department of Educational Leadership and Technology in the College of Education and Human Development, (985) 549-5713. The deadline for submitting application materials is July 17.

     The approval, which was required because the new degree represents a significant change in Southeastern’s curriculum and degree offerings, means that the university can start enrolling students this fall in its program leading to a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree. The degree is being offered in consortium with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The two institutions have formed a consortium board to jointly administer the program, offer classes and make decisions regarding program development and student participation.

     “Even though we were confident that SACS would grant approval, this is still a very historic moment for Southeastern,” said President Randy Moffett. “The program is a natural progression for the excellent teacher preparation program that Southeastern has operated for most of its 80 years of existence. It will enable us, with our partners in Lafayette, to train a new generation of school and system administrators who can be true change agents for our schools.”

     "The new doctoral degree program is extremely important to our growing array of graduate offerings,” said Michael Kurtz, dean of Southeastern’s Graduate School. “The Ed.D. in educational leadership is the fifth new graduate degree initiated in the last five years at Southeastern, and it places the institution into the doctoral-granting category."

     Diane Allen, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, said the program consists of 60 hours beyond the master’s degree level and will blend theory and practice while incorporating research-oriented, field-based projects for specific problems or issues.

     She said surveys show that approximately one-half of the school-based administrators in the regions around Southeastern and ULL are eligible to retire in the next five years, and the program is designed to increase the pool of highly qualified and prepared administrators.

     Southeastern, which also offers a number of master’s programs in education, is one of the state’s largest producers of teachers and was the first institution in the state to guarantee the performance of its teacher graduates to area school systems.