SUNY Empire State College values student learning, whether it is reflected on a transcript or demonstrated by lived experience. This one-credit course allows students in the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Change to demonstrate their knowledge of one or more of the competency areas required by the content areas recommended by the Council for the Advancement of Higher Education Programs (CAHEP) for master’s degrees in higher education administration and this program. In this course, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of: -History and Philosophy of Higher Education -Administration and Leadership in Higher Education Context -Economics and/or Finance of Higher Education -Higher Education Law -Organizational Development and Change Theories

Educational leaders must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively in writing and speech. This course focuses on writing critical reviews and argumentative essays on topics relevant to contemporary higher education. In this study, students will consider the changing environment of higher education nationally and locally. By comparing, contrasting and critiquing emerging issues that impact higher education, they will demonstrate competence in analytic writing and debate. Consideration is given to translating academic writing to more interactive, participatory social media forums. In order to demonstrate their-ability to communicate ideas effectively for different audiences, students will engage in practical workshops to strengthen their skills in becoming compelling public speakers in varied settings. Note: This course requires students to attend one virtual residency. Virtual residencies do not incur a residency fee.

This course is designed to examine leadership roles and leadership needs in 21st century higher education. Students will explore leadership principles, designs and styles alone and in relationship to academic planning, institutional advancement, professional development, and community outreach. Consideration will be given to differences in leadership approaches from transformative to transactional. Students will examine their own leadership styles and practice applying strategies to resolve various organizational challenges, particularly resistance to change.

Institutions across all industries, particularly education, must find ways to be responsive to increasingly complex and changing environments. In this study, students compare different models and concepts of organizational change including evolutionary, teleological, life cycle, dialectical, social cognition and cultural in order to understand the process of change from different perspectives. Students will critically reflect on the distinctive characteristics of their own educational organizations and how these might impact initiatives for change process. They will use current research to inform their own practice and develop competencies to develop and implement appropriate models of change. Prerequisites: EDLC 6000 and EDLC 6001.

This course will introduce/reinforce quantitative and qualitative educational research traditions, procedures, theories, and methods. Students reinforce their understanding of carrying out ethical research by completing CITI training and critically evaluating IRB applications from the perspective of both researcher and committee member. This course will include practical applications to educational problems. Topics include: -Introduction to quantitative and qualitative research methods in education -Overview and comparison of research processes and methods -Ethics in educational research with human subjects -Development of the research question, the theoretical framework, and the literature review -Statistical techniques -Causation, validity, and reliability -Testing and measurement -Research methods (qualitative, quantitative, action research) Prerequisites: EDLC 6000, EDLC 6001.

This course provides students with the basic competencies necessary to understand and evaluate the research of others, and to plan and conduct their own research with a minimum of assistance. Topics will include the research process from problem formulation, literature review, research design, and qualitative analysis to report writing and dissemination. Qualitative research methods of data collection will be reviewed, and students will be introduced to action research, a form of self-reflective systematic inquiry by practitioners on their own practice. Students will conduct a small action research project over the course of the semester. This process will involve the identification of a specific issue in the student’s work setting, researching the literature regarding the issue, designing a proposal to solve the issue, implementing the solution (after the proposal has been approved by the SUNY Empire State College Institutional Review Board), and reporting the results. Prerequisites: EDLC 6003.

This course provides the basis for understanding, applying, and interpreting the fundamental concepts and procedures of descriptive and inferential statistics. Students will relate specific quantitative research questions and hypotheses to appropriate statistical procedures, and analyze data sets that apply directly to educational research using SPSS. Prerequisites: EDLC 6003.

This study explores the characteristics of ethical leaders in higher education and the frameworks that can guide action in case of breaches of ethical behavior. Students focus on strategies that leaders can use when faced with a variety of ethical dilemmas. Readings include case studies for discussing, debating and suggesting solutions for real-world dilemmas in higher and adult education. Attention is given to the ways in which leaders initiate appropriate strategies that support an ethical institutional culture. Students will reflect upon and reinforce their conceptual understanding of ethical leadership at individual, organizational and societal levels. Team activities will engage students in analyzing various statements of ethical standards, and each student will develop his/her own statement of professional ethics. Prerequisites: EDLC 6002.

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

This course focuses on education leadership in national and international contexts. Students will explore various key components to leadership and examine case studies where strategies have been implemented. This course will ask students to examine leadership practices in educational and other organizations as well as global leadership practices. The class will explore supports and hindrances in developing and becoming leaders including dynamics related to class, race, gender, location, governmental policies, etc. Students will also review case studies of leadership change in policy and practice and be able to analyze those cases critically. The course will also encourage students to articulate their own leadership style based on literature and practices they have reviewed. Prerequisites: EDLC 6000, EDLC 6001.

In this course students survey a range of topics related to administrative responsibilities and opportunities in higher education. These include governance, accreditation, recruitment and retention, financial management practices including revenue generation, budgeting/resource allocation, and strategic planning particularly around cost containment. Students analyze different models of educational management (formal, collegial, political, subjective, ambiguity, cultural) and consider parallel leadership approaches to support an institution's preferred management model. Attendance of a face-to-face residency is required. Registration of this course will incur a residency fee.

At the heart of any educator's practice lies an intertwining web of relationships. Whether in relationship with oneself, one's students, or with the world, one's practice is strengthened by knowing one's location in order to foment change in one's context and site of practice. Positionality, or where one locates his/herself in relationship to race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation influences their role as adult education practitioners, researchers, and leaders in the field. Students will be asked to reflect on their roles as individuals and group members of their own particular race, gender, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation position. In addition to this, students will examine concepts and perceptions that have influenced them as well as society in terms of both the personal and professional. Students will also critically examine various definitions of diversity and models of diversity training. They will work in teams to consider how to assess and take action for diversity in institutional settings. They will use instruments such as The Diversity Rubric (AACU's 'Self-Assessment Rubric for Institutionalization of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education') at their own institutions, or ESC to establish and audit relevant accomplishments, challenges and potential action plans. Note: This course requires students to attend one face-to-face residency. Registration of this course will incur a residency fee.

The field of adult education is neither finite or static. As a dynamic, continuing and evolving field of practice, it is fraught with tensions, dilemmas, controversies, ethical concerns and connections, not only in the context of one’s own practice of adult education but in other practice areas as well, amidst many debates about ethical issues and professionalization of the field. Students will also explore individual and collaborative ways of learning and how those have impacted adult education practice and literature (and their own practice). Palmer in The Courage to Teach(1998) stated that "Teaching, like any truly human activity emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together...knowing my students and my subject depends and my subject deepens heavily on self-knowledge. When I do not know myself, I cannot know my subject-not at the deepest levels of embodied, personal meaning. I will know it only abstractly, from a distance." This study will also focus on adult education program administration evaluation, theory and evaluation.

In this course, students will address the current social, political, organizational, and technological climate within which adult learning in higher education is evolving. Course readings will focus on specific forms of structural change effecting adult learning, including globalization, neoliberalism, and the changing financial and organizational structures of higher education. Students will engage with the various social and ideological debates concerning these issues and address the implications for their particular institution of higher education. Students will interrogate political and cultural factors which promote or impede the realization of their commitments and challenges of committed action. Included will be approaches available in political analysis and case studies of activism.

Increasingly sophisticated methods and technology that include the capability to collect and store large volumes of data has ushered in a new era of data-informed decision making in higher education. Data analytics is the use of large volumes of data that can be combined or analyzed, often with the use of complex statistical/mathematical models to examine a problem or issue under study. Related to student success and administrative decision making, data analytics can be used to better understand current student, faculty, and staff populations as well as if, how, and in what ways students, faculty, or institutions are achieving success. This course will examine issues related to the increasing use of data in highereducation and how higher education leaders can harness the power of data to ask the right questions that enable better decision making. The course will help students become familiar with definitions of major terms such as Big Data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and it will discuss the ethical, cultural, and managerial implications for the use of data analytics in higher education decision making. Topics will be discussed broadly and will not include hands-on use of statistics or the generation of computer code. An applied project will be proposed.

This course analyzes data, theories, and case studies to frame how immigration and higher education intersect in the contemporary United States. Class members explore key historical, demographic, and legal trends as they consider first, second, and third generation migrants; DACA; international students; and displaced students (including refugees, Temporary Protected Status holders, and others). Readings and assignments include case studies focused on how “brick and mortar” and online higher education institutions support the umbrella category of immigrants and how they engage stakeholders including staff, students, alumni, community members, and government officials. Class members will reflect upon and dissect their understanding of how federal policy, state policy, institutional practice, and higher education leadership practice overlap and reflect distinct approaches to student support.

This course will identify the predominant models of administration and management in higher education and the emergent models. Topics will include changing student demographics, financial and budget strategies, and newer models for human resources and administration. The effectiveness of various models will be analyzed. Various theories of leadership are explored to have learners examine their own experience in working as leader, and to have them develop specific leadership skills and approaches as means of interpreting problems from the field and in developing leadership responses to these problems in becoming responsible higher education leaders. Prerequisites: EDLC 6002 and EDLC 7003.

This course will address the challenges facing leaders in higher education, as they attempt to implement change within the organization. Topics will include defining what is strategic change and the need for strategic change; what are the obstacles to strategic change; and how to overcome these obstacles. Students will integrate theories from core courses on leadership and change: to develop strategies to overcome the obstacles in Higher Education that prevent change, with a focus on cultural change. Students will study examples of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) that attempted to make changes needed because of the constraints from the evolution of technology, changes in the skills needed by students in the job market; changes in accountability from their Board of Directions; as well as societal changes among others. Students will be able to develop an integrated change management plan in order to overcome these obstacles to change. Prerequisites: EDLC 6002.

Emergent student development theory is explored as it applies to contemporary issues in higher education related to diversity, student retention and student engagement. In addition, this course broadens awareness of student affairs professionals through exposure to new models of student affairs administration in higher education. This course examines competencies for effectiveness in management and integration of student affairs functions. It advances approaches to student development theory particularly from a perspective of using evidence of student learning and development to improve higher education.

This course explores the planning and required policies needed for the effective integration of the technologies necessary to ensure institutional survival and growth in increasingly global, technology-infused learning environments. General organizational principles as well as guidelines from standards-setting organizations will help frame the changing climate, as students explore, share, and apply these principles and guidelines to learning institutions or education and training functions within more diverse organizations.

Rapidly changing trends and methods in educational and emerging technologies require a deliberate, research-based approach to analysis, discovery, experimentation, evaluation and application. This seminar will feature real-time, interactive scholarly dialogue with invited speakers addressing current and emergent topics in the field during virtual “live talk sessions.” As the course progresses, students will lead seminar talks and asynchronous discussions on selected trends, and develop a scholarly literature review and research or position paper on their chosen research area.

This course provides an overview of virtual environments; including the context, processes, production, and usage of various virtual environments of shared spaces such as MOOs, MUDs, MMORPGs, MUVE, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality. The course will attempt to survey most of the important conception of virtual environments (VEs). Examples of existing VEs will be shown whenever possible, but students will learn primarily through exploration and collaboration. The course will take on a variety of formats, as the disparate subjects dictate. Examples will be presented in MOOC, video lectures, collaborate tools, demonstrations, and Open Sim. Students will first define, choose, and then use or create a virtual environment as part of their project for the course. Papers and videos will be discussed. Students will present their VEs on a variety of formats, subject to instructor approval.

This course is designed to create a discourse community that questions hegemonic practices, contributing to a larger collective conversation. Through the study of critical ethnographies, students will examine current educational assumptions to develop critically reflective practice and transform thinking. Students will deconstruct dynamics of critical pedagogy through the lenses of diversity including race, gender, and class, developing layered analysis of principles, theorists, and views.

This course will examine current policies that affect learning and instructional practices in higher education and the implications for teachers and faculty as leaders who can shape research, policies and community engagement. Problem-solving strategies will be used to identify and develop best practices that respond to challenges arising from contemporary issues in society. Students will explore contemporary issues in relation to topics such as open education, competency programs, and accreditation reform. Prerequisites: EDLC 6001, EDLC 6002, EDLC 6006.

This course is designed to examine leadership roles and leadership needs in 21st century education. Students will explore various leadership designs and styles alone and in relationship to curricular planning, professional development, and community outreach. Students will examine learning environments to develop strategies and programs around leadership that coincide with the needs of contemporary learners.

In this study, students will examine assessment approaches from micro (course, program, division) to macro (institutional, system, national/external) levels as an important knowledge base for leaders in higher education. Comparative analysis of standards set by regional higher education accreditation agencies as well as professional associations will be used as a basis for considering appropriate approaches to leading internal assessment planning. Students will develop an assessment plan for institutional effectiveness that aligns with best practices in the field of higher education. Prerequisites: EDLC 6005.

This course will focus on the development of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) education initiatives or services. The course will build on any earlier identification of organizations that currently provide STEM initiative or services, adding further analysis of those programs. Students in this course will assume the role of a STEM leader of an organization, identify a major focus (i.e. gender, race & ethnicity, etc.), and a lever (i.e. Women, Early Childhood Education, K-16, etc.) and develop an initiative or service for their organization that best responds to the chosen lever, based on a set of provided criteria.

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor/advisor in Educational Leadership and Change (EDLC). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

This study serves as a bridge between the sequence of courses (core, research and leadership electives) taken to this point in the program, and the culminating dissertation writing phase. It offers each student an opportunity to reflect on the body of his/her work and how it supports a potential topic of inquiry. In addition to compiling a reflective portfolio of past work, students draft a prospectus for their proposed dissertation research. Students must give a presentation of their portfolio and receive at least a provisional pass on their prospectus before starting their dissertation sequence. Prerequisites: EDLC 7003, EDLC 7005, EDLC 7020, and EDLC 7021.

This course provides students with the specific competencies necessary to plan and conduct their own research receiving guidance from a faculty member. This will be an independent or small group study in which students will choose to study in more depth either quantitative or qualitative methods. Topics will include the research process from problem formulation, literature review, research design, and qualitative analysis to report writing and dissemination. Students will practice relevant data collection techniques by conducting a small research project over the course of the semester which will serve as a related pilot for the dissertation. This process will involve the identification of a specific related issue in the student's work setting or another setting, continuing the collection of the literature regarding the issue, designing the methods solve the issue, collecting and analyzing relevant data and suggesting practical solutions based on the results. Prerequisites: EDLC 6003, EDLC 6004, EDLC 6005.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the academic expectations and requirements for the doctoral dissertation, solidify inquiry skills, and make significant progress toward successful completion of the dissertation. The dissertation proposal is developed and defended as a part of this study and is graded pass/fail. Note: This course requires students to attend one face-to-face residency. Prerequisites: EDLC 8000, EDLC 8001.

This course is designed to provide doctoral candidates with the knowledge of the dissertation proposal process and assist them in successfully defending the design in a proposal hearing. This course may be repeated for a total of nine (9) hours. Graded pass/fail. Prerequisites: EDLC 8002.

The doctoral dissertation is the culminating experience of the Educational Doctorate degree involving a scholarly inquiry into an area of professional and intellectual interest. The student will conduct research and complete a report of the findings in the form of a written and oral defense of the research. Students enroll in this course to complete their data analysis and final write-up of their dissertation. They should schedule and successfully complete an oral defense by the end of term. Graded Pass/Fail. Prerequisites: EDLC 8003.