Union Institute & University (UI&U)

Earn your UI&U Doctorate of Education and together we'll find ways to make a difference.

Since 1964, UI&U has taken a different approach to higher education. If you are interested in advancing your career and enhancing your skills so that you can make a difference in the lives of your students and community, Union Institute & University is the ideal place for you. UI&U is a nationally recognized, accredited university with programs of study leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. All of our programs combine flexibility, interdisciplinary studies, a concern for social relevance and innovative collaborative learning.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Designed for working adults like you.

This program offers the following concentrations:

• Educational Leadership
• Higher Education Leadership

The Ed.D. program is designed to serve you in two ways. First, your academic activities will focus on real-world problem solving and interactive learning that values and builds on your professional experience and prior knowledge. Second, the Ed.D. curriculum is presented within a hybrid model that combines intensive face-to-face academic residencies and professional development practica using online learning.

Designed to support educational leaders like you.

UI&U's mission is to serve you in acquiring advanced scholarship in the field and to assist you as you develop the skills and attributes necessary to become an effective researcher and professional in your area of specialization (educational leadership or higher education). Additionally, the program has a strong emphasis on social justice, focusing on developing change agents who can affect, model and improve the education systems of the future.

The Ed.D. program will prepare you as a scholar-practitioner who has accomplished the following:

• Mastered foundational and advanced knowledge in the field of education and in a specialized area of either educational leadership or higher education
• Understands, acknowledges and respects different views of ethics and social justice
• Gained the methodological proficiency required to conduct advanced educational research
• Has acquired the professional skills (communication, planning, consensus building, implementation strategies) required to be a successful educational leader
• Able to assess the implications of different views of justice for educational systems and programs
• Intellectually and professionally equipped to facilitate discussions among different educational constituencies who hold alternative views

The Ed.D. curriculum is shaped by UI&U's long held institutional interdisciplinary values and social justice and by relevant national standards. It provides a structured framework for learning while allowing you to pursue advanced individualized study.

Ed.D. curriculum--five types of learning activities.

Required Learning/Core Knowledge: You will engage in core and foundational learning through a series of seminars that begin at the semi-annual academic residencies and are completed online during the first three terms. Core knowledge focuses on social justice, ethics and ethical leadership, legal issues and recent developments in education.

Research Methods and the Dissertation: You will participate in four seminars on research methods, providing a thorough basis for developing and carrying out a research project that will culminate in your dissertation. These seminars will incorporate consideration of the implications of a concern for social justice for various methodological approaches in order to conduct educational research. They will provide you with a firm basis for examining the effectiveness of innovative programs designed to bring about change in elementary, secondary and higher education.

Specialized Learning: Each of the program's two areas of specialization includes five seminars that will address the distinctive educational needs, policy options, organizational structures and leadership approaches that most effectively incorporate considerations of social justice.

Internship: The required internship emphasizes the need to put into practice what you have learned. The goal is to challenge your beliefs by placing you in situations where you will directly face individuals who hold alternative views. The internship will encourage you to consider and possibly adopt other ways of thinking.

Professional Development Practicum: Social justice is a thread that appears throughout the program. The curriculum includes six professional development practica, one per semester for your first three years in the program. The practica will have the following two foci:

• A careful examination of your beliefs about social justice
• Meetings with faculty to discuss your academic outcomes gained in the seminars that began during the academic residency for that term

Residency Requirements

You will begin your program by participating in a 7-day academic residency held in January or July. You will also attend six professional development practica, one per semester for your first three years in the program. The practica will be three-day weekend events.

• Minimum required time in the program is three years.
• Total credits in program: 66

Information

If you are interested in this school and would like to find out more, please Request Information from Union Institute & University - Distance Learning.