Requirements and Curriculum
The Ph.D. program in Community College Leadership is comprised of courses totaling forty-eight academic credit hours beyond the master's degree. The curriculum includes four parts including a content concentration totaling eighteen (18) credit hours, a research component including twelve (12) credit hours, nine (9) credit hours of electives and the dissertation which will include a minimum of nine (9) credit hours. The dissertation will often include twelve (12) or more credit hours depending on the length of time necessary for completion.
Students entering the program may also need to complete one introductory statistics course if they have not had such a course or cannot demonstrate competency at a satisfactory level. If students have not yet served in an administrative or other leadership position in a community college for a minimum of three years, they will also need to complete a 6 credit hour internship. Students who come into the Ph.D. program with a master's degree in an academic field that is unrelated to higher education administration and/or who have not completed courses to develop competency in specified areas will need to complete these courses in lieu of electives.
Admissions are offered once a year in order to build efficient cohort groups for this type of advanced study. In order to enhance the experience of the students and to increase the efficiency by which courses are offered, a cohort of 15 students will be admitted each year. This limited number of students is necessary to assure that there is an adequate number of full-time faculty to serve the students through advising and other duties, particularly when the cohorts reach the dissertation stage of the program. To build a cohesive cohort group, a series of intensive courses will be offered on the Old Dominion University campus. Applicants must submit completed applications and all related material no later than February 1 of each year, and students will be admitted for study beginning in June of the same year. A minimum of two semesters of full-time study is required of students in the program to meet university residency requirements One of the semesters of full-time study (defined as completion of nine (9) credit hours) must be accomplished by the completion of a three-week residency in the first summer after admission. During that residency the student will complete two courses (six (6) credit hours) with their entering cohort group. In addition, the student must enroll in an additional three (3) credit hour course that will be taught during the summer via Teletechnet. These courses will be selected from within the "content concentration" or "research" requirements. The second semester of residency can be accomplished in several ways. Students may complete nine (9) credit hours during any semester, may attend a second summer residency, and/or may enroll for nine (9) dissertation credit hours during a semester. Courses taken via Teletechnet are considered "resident" courses, so that taking three (3) Teletechnet courses during a semester may complete the second residency requirement.
Content Concentration Courses = 18 Credit Hours | |
| CCL 820 | Community College Leadership |
| CCL 824 | Community College Finance |
| CCL 826 | Community College Curriculum and Program Development |
| HIED 866 | The Modern Community College |
| OTED 865 | Trends and Issues in Workforce and Economic Development |
| OTED 889 | Instructional Technology in Education and Training |
Research = 12 Credit Hours | |
| Program Assessment and Evaluation | |
| ELS 832 | Statistics Applied to Research in Education |
| ELS 833 | Advanced Research Design and Analysis |
| Rubric for Evaluating Research Proposal | |
| HIED 881 | Dissertation Seminar |
Dissertation = 9-12 Credit Hours | |
| HIED 899 |
Dissertation: Dissertation Guide |
Electives= 9 Credit Hours*** | |
| Students may choose three courses from those listed as Other Available/Recommended Substitute Courses below or from other courses as approved by their academic advisor. | |
| COUN 807 | Student and Adult Development Theory |
| COUN 810 | Intro to Student Personnel |
| HIED 808 | Contemporary Issues in Higher Education |
| HIED 845 | Today's College Student and Diversity |
| HIED 852 | The Law of Higher Education |
| HIED 856 | Higher Education Finance |
| HIED 857 | The Multicultural University |
| HIED 893 | The History of Higher Education |
| HIED 894 | Organization and Administration of Higher Education |
| HIED 895 | Special Topics in Higher Education * |
| CCL 822 | Internship in Community College Education** |
| OTED 830 | Introduction to Technology |
| OTED 850 | Trends and Issues in Training: Modeling and Simulation |
| OTED 860 | Trends and Issues in Occupational Education |
| OTED 861 | Foundations of Adult Education and Training |
| OTED 862 | Administration of Adult Training Programs |
| OTED 885 | Curriculum Development in Occupational Education and Training |
| OTED 888 | Instructional Strategies and Innovations in Training and Occupational Education |
| OTED 890 | Practicum in Occupational Education |
| * This course could be taught as a three (3) credit hour course, or as 3 one (1) credit hour courses in the summer. Possible course subjects could be Community College Human Resources Issues, Community Colleges and Local Government Issues or other focused course in Ethics, Technology, or other concentration in skills needed for a specific higher education program such as counseling center management, financial aid, student discipline and judicial affairs, budgeting, etc. **Students who do not have a minimum of three (3) years of full-time employment experience in a position as an administrator in a community college will also be required to complete CCL 868. This is an internship in community college administration that consists of a minimum of two 300-hour experiences for 3 credits each, or one 600-hour experience for 6 credits. ***COUN 807: Student and Adult Development Theory, COUN 810: Introduction to Student Personnel, and HIED 808: Contemporary Issues in Higher Education, or their equivalent, are prerequisites to the core courses and must be taken in lieu of electives. Students who have completed these or similar courses as part of a master's or education specialist degree program may substitute courses from others listed below or others within the University as approved by the student's advisor as electives. | |
Experiential Requirements
CCL 868 - (three credits) - Internship in Community College Leadership - Required for all doctoral students who have not served in a full-time administrative position. Two internships are required of students who have not completed a minimum of 3 years of administrative experience in a Community College. It is expected that each intern will work with an administrator at the dean level or higher.
Continuous Enrollment Course
CCL 999 - Graduate Continuing Enrollment Course - This course is used for continuous enrollment purposes. When the Community College Leadership Doctoral Student has completed all other degree credit requirements and still needs to take the Comprehensive Exam before starting the formal dissertation process, or is in the semester of graduation he/she must register for this "audit only" course to meet the requirements of continuous enrollment.