The Doctor of Education degree in Educational Administration is designed specifically for persons who already have a master's degree, are certified principals, and have K-12 practical administrative experience. Building upon the master's degree, the program requires a major course of study of 36 semester hours (not including the dissertation) 12 semester hours of research tools, and successful completion of a dissertation.
Students are assigned a curriculum advisor from the Doctoral Faculty that assists them with course selection and developing a Residency Plan. After successfully completing twelve credit hours, students may select a dissertation advisor (chair) and begin working on their dissertation research proposal.
The dissertation committee includes (minimally) 3 faculty members. Two faculty members will be from the department, including the chair, and one faculty member from outside the department. These individuals guide the doctoral student in the dissertation proposal and the dissertation.
The research tools courses develop proficiency in quantitative and qualitative research methodology.
Application packets are reviewed for admission November 1 for the spring and July 15th for fall.
Students admitted to the doctoral program begin with classes as a cohort group in the semester following admission and are required to progress as a cohort group through a sequence of doctoral-only core courses and research tools courses. The cohort program is designed to provide students with the opportunity to progress through the program in a logical and sequential manner with a group of colleagues pursuing similar professional goals.
11.99.99.R0.17: The purpose of residency is to enhance the professional development of doctoral students. Each department is responsible for the development of a residency plan that is consistent with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools guidelines for residency and the Texas Administration Code rule for New Doctoral Programs; and is developed with the professional standards of the discipline in mind. The residency plans are applicable to all new and current doctoral programs.
The Residency Program is required for all doctoral students at Texas A&M University-Commerce. The Residency Program allows students to acquire intellectual experiences above and beyond the coursework of the doctoral program by providing students additional opportunities to master intellectual principles, and develop original scholarly contributions to their chosen disciplines. Students will collaborate with the faculty members in the doctoral program in the development and presentation of their research in a statewide/national setting.
The Graduate School expects all graduate programs to encourage and provide opportunities for immersion of doctoral students in scholarship. Residency goals will be achieved by multiple means, including but not limited to individual and group research training; providing access to resources such as libraries, research equipment, scholarly materials, providing networking opportunities with A&M University-Commerce faculty, external scholars and doctoral students; participation in scholarly conferences and symposiums.
Dissertation Chairs are selected after completion of 12 hours of coursework. The residency may begin after dissertation chair is selected. Residency requirements and doctoral comprehensive exams are directly overseen by the Dissertation Chair. Chairs are responsible for ensuring residency presentations are observed and residency requirements are completed.
Doctoral Residency Requirements:
Students are eligible for Doctoral Candidacy when both Residency and Comprehensive Exam requirements have been met.
The student will complete a residency plan outlining proposed residency activities with the approval of their dissertation chair.
All candidates are required to complete EDAD 699 Resident Doctoral Seminar.
All candidates must meet Graduate School research tools requirements for the Doctor of Education degree (see Office of Graduate Studies for more information).
A dissertation of at least 12 semester hours must be completed to the satisfaction of the major department. After a doctoral candidate is admitted to candidacy (completion of all course work, successful completion of doctoral comprehensive exam, and residency) he/she will be required to enroll in at least three hours of Dissertation 718 each fall and spring semester until the dissertation is completed and approved by the advisory committee and Dean of the Graduate School.
Student's progress toward dissertation completion will be evaluated a minimum of once each year by doctoral faculty. Each doctoral student will receive a dissertation research and writing evaluation for EDAD 718 of "S" (satisfactory) or "U" (unsatisfactory).
Doctoral students who earn three grades below B or "U" (unsatisfactory) grades in EDAD 718 courses results in permanent suspension from the program. The competitive nature of admissions and access to faculty chairs makes it imperative that students avoid being declared inactive. There is no guarantee that inactive student's will be approved to reenter.
| Major Courses 36 semester hours (12 courses) | ||
No course in which a grade lower than a B was earned can be credited on the degree plan. | ||
| EDAD 601 | Foundations of Educational Administration (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 671 | Governance and Politics of Educational Organizations (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 639 | Educational Program Evaluation for School Leaders (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 637 | Advanced Organizational Behavior in Education (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 641 | School District Instructional Leadership: Curriculum (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 647 | Ethics and Philosophy of Educational Administration (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 634 | Examining the Dynamics of Change and Conflict Resolution in Educational Systems (*) | 3 |
| EDAD 658 | School Crisis Leadership | 3 |
| or EDAD 651 | School District Organizational Leadership: Facilities | |
| EDAD 664 | Doctoral Writing - Prospectus Development | 3 |
| EDAD 699 | Resident Doctoral Seminar | 3 |
| EDAD 654 | Culturally Responsive Leadership | 3 |
| or EDAD 620 | School District Instructional Leadership: Human Resources | |
| EDAD 655 | Executive Communications | 3 |
| or EDAD 627 | School District Organizational Leadership: Finance | |
*Core courses-Content included in Comprehensive Exam | ||
| Research Tools 12 semester hours (4 courses) | ||
| EDAD 695 | Research Methodology | 3 |
| EDAD 603 | Introduction to Graduate Statistics | 3 |
| EDAD 604 | Intermediate Graduate Statistics | 3 |
| EDAD 698 | Qualitative Research Methods | 3 |
| Dissertation Writing - No less than 12 semester hours (4 courses) | ||
| EDAD 718 | Doctoral Dissertation | 3-12 |
| Total Hours | 60 | |
Note: No course beyond the master's program that is over ten years old at the time the doctoral degree is conferred can be used toward the doctoral degree.
Note: Superintendent Certification information can be found online at: Superintendent Certification
Successful completion of the Comprehensive Exam is required of all students.
