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THE STATE
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF |
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TO: |
Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee |
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FROM: |
Johanna Duncan-Poitier |
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SUBJECT: |
Master Plan Amendment: The Sage Colleges, Doctor of
Education (Ed.D.) degree in Educational Leadership and Doctor of Nursing
Science (D.N.S.) in Education and Leadership |
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DATE: |
March 2, 2007 |
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STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goals 2 and 4 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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SUMMARY
Issue for Decision
Should the Regents authorize the amendment
of the master plan of The Sage Colleges,
Reason
for Consideration
Required by State regulation.
Proposed Handling
The question will come before the Higher Education and Professional
Practice Committee at its March 2007 meeting where it will be voted on and
action taken. It will then come
before the full Board at its March 2007 meeting for final
action.
Procedural History
Master plan amendment is required because these would be the Colleges’
first academic doctoral degree programs. The Sage Colleges submitted its
proposals in February 2006, which included an institutional readiness review
conducted by a team of peer reviewers.
The Department completed its academic review in January 2007 and
initiated on January 22, 2007 the canvasses of all degree-granting institutions
in the Northeast Region and all doctoral degree-granting institutions in the
State. The canvasses ended on
February 13, 2007.
Background
Information
The Sage Colleges is an independent institution, granted a provisional charter by the Board of Regents in 1927 and an absolute charter in 1928, which today offers baccalaureate degrees in liberal arts and professional fields and master’s degrees in education, business and management, nursing, health sciences, public administration, and psychology, as well as the Doctor of Physical Therapy.
Effect
on Other Institutions
A statewide canvass was conducted of institutions of higher
education. For the Doctor of
Education program, four letters of support, including two offering comments
which have been responded to by Sage and three responses indicating no objection
were received. For the Doctor of
Nursing Science program, there were five letters of support and four responses
indicating no objection.
Recommendation
The Department has determined that the proposed program, if approved,
would meet the standards for registration set forth in the Regulations of the
Commissioner of Education. As this would be the Colleges’ first academic
doctoral degree program, the Department will make a peer review visit during the
program’s first year of operation.
The Department recommends that the Board approve the amendment of the
master plan of The Sage Colleges, authorizing the Colleges to offer a Doctor of
Education (Ed.D.) degree program in Educational Leadership and a Doctor of
Nursing Science (D.N.S.) degree program in Education and Leadership. This amendment will be effective until
March 31, 2008, unless the programs are registered by the Department prior to
that date, in which case master plan amendment shall be without
term.
Timetable for Implementation
If the Board approves this amendment, the Department will register
these programs, and the Colleges will proceed to recruit and enroll
students.
Information in
Support of Recommendation
Program Overview
for Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership
The proposal for the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is jointly presented
by the
- Provide
advanced study in leadership and change theory for candidates entering
significant leadership roles in school districts or other areas of broad
educational influence;
- Lead to the
creation of inclusive learning communities in the schools and districts served
by Sage graduates;
- Generate a
forum for women and men of differing races and ethnicities to convene and
challenge themselves as they investigate the effects of race, poverty, gender,
and special needs on the achievement of children;
- Produce
reflective and active educational leaders who respect the past but are not
constrained by it in their thought or action on behalf of
learners;
- Become a model
of university/school district cooperation in leadership development;
and
- Ignite and
disseminate research-based decision making and problem solving for school
districts in need.
Degree
Requirements
Candidates for the Ed.D. program will complete 102 credits of graduate
study, 42 of which must be completed in the Sage program. Those credits include
core coursework, an experiential component integrated throughout the program,
and a culminating research activity.
The program is designed to be small; approximately 10-15 part-time
candidates will be accepted every other year. Each group will proceed through the
program as a cohort. The program
design includes summer residencies, evening and weekend courses, online
components, and interaction with state and national experts. The degree must be completed within six
years; an attrition rate of 10-15 percent is projected.
Program
Design
The design of the internship is a distinguishing feature of the program.
Using a medical rotation model, each candidate will intern throughout the first
four semesters, experiencing the annual cycle of school district leadership
functions. The internship
competency areas relate specifically to the coursework of the semester. Candidates will serve the internship in
two carefully selected school districts of varying socioeconomic status. These
school districts will also become partners as research sites and collaborate
with program faculty in identifying significant problems of practice for
research. The partnerships provide
relevancy for the research, build capacity for the school districts, and
generate model university/school district relationships.
Nationwide, a
number of institutions of higher education have moved to focus the Ed.D. in
Educational Leadership on understanding and applying research in practice.
A similar
approach is reflected in the proposal submitted by Sage. While candidates are expected to
demonstrate competence individually, their ability to work with others, to lead,
to develop, and to demonstrate vision, advocacy, and outreach can only be fully
evaluated in context. The competencies associated with the research as designed
provide the structure by which knowledge, skills, and dispositions can be
evaluated in vivo rather than through simulation. Candidates have the
opportunity to apply the research findings of the field, to understand the
complex nature of the issues and problems that schools face, and to draw upon
the richness and breadth of the university curriculum. It should be noted that this
activity will not only address significant and real problems, concerns or
questions, but will contribute to the knowledge base in the area of leadership
practice.
Program
Admission Requirements
Admission to the
Ed.D. program will be limited to qualified candidates who have completed a
master’s degree or degrees with no fewer than 60 graduate credits of study in
education or related areas, and have a GPA of no less than 3.5 in graduate
coursework. Potential candidates
will also present teaching or leadership certification and demonstrate potential
for educational leadership based on prior work experience. Other requirements include an
application to Sage Graduate School; three letters of professional reference
that address the candidate’s potential in relationship to the NYS Education
Department’s nine essential characteristics of effective leaders; an on-demand
writing sample to determine readiness
and capability for scholarly writing; a current résumé; a statement of
career goals supporting the choice to enter doctoral study at this time; and
participation in a personal admissions interview.
Candidates for the program will be teachers, counselors, principals, and
other education professionals who have exhibited leadership potential through
their work in schools, school systems, or other educational policy positions.
The program is intended for practitioners and is designed to allow for continued
employment throughout the period in which they will complete the program. Careful work with school and community
leaders is intended to assist in increasing the number of highly qualified
candidates from under-represented populations who enroll in the doctoral
program. The student body will
primarily be drawn from the Greater Capital Region, contiguous upstate areas of
Facilities,
Equipment, Faculty and other Academic Resources
The Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership will be housed on Sage’s
The combined holdings of The Sage Colleges’ Albany and Troy libraries
include over 370,000 volumes of books, serials and microforms, 16,000 printed
and electronic periodical subscriptions (with over 55,000 volumes of bound
periodicals) and over 34,000 media items. Additionally, extensive online
resources support the new program, including the pre-eminent databases and
journals in the field of education. Through a regional library consortium,
Sage’s students and faculty have ready access to the holdings of other academic
libraries, including the University at
The Educational
Leadership faculty are broadly qualified, with extensive records of
accomplishment at the state, regional and national level. Two associate
professors are dedicated full time to the Educational Leadership program; both
possess appropriate doctoral degrees and extensive leadership experience. A new position, Director of
Research, is currently being added specifically for the Ed.D. program. The
Director of Research brings rich experience with doctoral programs, dissertation
advisement, research, and publication.
A fourth faculty member will be added in the second year of the program,
based on assessment of enrollment and need for additional expertise. Two other faculty members in the
The doctoral
program will also draw upon the expertise of faculty across the university. Faculty members within the Department of
Management in the
Prospects for
Employment/Further Education for Program Graduates
This program
prepares graduates primarily for positions of school district leadership and
leadership roles in educational coordination and policymaking. Schools and school districts face the
convergence of large numbers of potential retirements from positions of
leadership, a demand for greater achievement across all subgroups of the student
population, fiscal disparities, and increasing accountability from both the
national and state levels.
Snapshot
V, a publication
of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, reports approximately
63 percent of current superintendents plan to retire within the next five
years. The findings also indicate
that new superintendents will serve fewer years in the role than their retiring
predecessors. The identified demand
is complicated by a shrinking replacement pool of interested and prepared
candidates.
The percentage
of women who are superintendents continues to rise, representing 30 percent of
new superintendents; nevertheless, the percentage of female superintendents in
A need for this program exists. Though the doctorate is not required for certification as a school district leader in New York
The demand for
this program is not being fully accommodated by other doctoral institutions in
the eastern part of
Program Overview
for Doctor of Nursing Science (D.N.S.) in Education and
Leadership
The Sage Colleges’ nursing programs (both graduate and undergraduate) are
accredited by the Council of Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). More than 3,500 nurses at the bachelor’s
and master’s level have graduated and assumed leadership positions in advanced
practice, education and administration
Through Sage Graduate School, Sage presently offers the M.S. in Nursing
with concentrations for nurse educators and administrators and certificates for
nurse-practitioners in a variety of specialties. The D.N.S. program will build on the
mission of
Program
Design
The purpose of the D.N.S. program is to prepare innovative,
transformational nurse leaders and educators for both academic and health care
settings. The program’s distinctive
approach will focus on developing a model of dynamic collaboration between
academia and the health care environment. The proposed D.N.S. model is based on
AACN’s Indicators of Quality in
Research-Focused Doctoral Programs in Nursing (2001). It will prepare expert nurses to provide
and cultivate leadership, advance education, research and scholarship, and
influence policy across academic and health care settings. The D.N.S. will complement a proposed
new doctoral program in Educational Leadership; both programs will also draw
upon the expertise of faculty in the Department of Management (
The global nursing shortage in academia and in health care administration
is well documented in literature.[1] By facilitating part-time study for
employed practitioners, Sage’s D.N.S. model facilitates the integration of the
administrative and educational problems of the workplace with concurrent
advanced study and research.
Pursuit of the doctoral degree thus becomes more attractive and feasible
and helps to address the long-term problem of nursing
shortages.
Candidates for the D.N.S. degree will complete a program of 84 graduate
credits, 42 of which must be completed in the Sage program. The program includes courses in Advanced
Nursing Science and Knowledge (6 credits), Advanced Research and Scholarship (15
credits), Leadership in Higher Education and Health Care (9 credits), and
Nursing Cognates (12 credits). Each
candidate will develop with the program director a unique plan of professional
development, which forms a basis for the selection of their cognate courses,
based on prior academic and professional experience and planned career track.
The curriculum culminates in a six-credit dissertation mentored by a team of
full-time and adjunct faculty. The
dissertation research topics will focus on issues of education and
leadership. The D.N.S. program is
designed for part-time study that can be completed in a three- to six-year
period. A cohort group will begin
the program annually in the fall semester.
The program must be completed within six years.
The proposed D.N.S. degree program is distinctive in that it provides a
foundation for scholarly dialogue between academic and practice leaders who will
collaborate in shaping practice, nursing curriculum, policy and evidence-based
outcomes to create stronger environments for professional nursing education and
practice. The Department of Nursing currently has collaborative clinical
contracts with 103 local, regional, state, and global agencies. Sage expects to use these academic
partnerships to further expand and develop new, innovative models of education
and care delivery for multigenerational and diverse populations.
·
The following
health care institutions are major regional academic partners both in terms of
formal clinical affiliations and collaborative research:
·
The Department
is currently working on two experimental education programs: 1) a project with The Iroquois Health
Alliance (sponsored by New York Department of Health) to accelerate entry into
baccalaureate nursing programs for individuals working in the health care field;
and 2) a project with Community Hospice to more efficiently train nursing and
other medical staff in the theory and operation of palliative care.
·
The
Department is also developing a formal academic affiliation with the Foundation
of New York State Nurses. The
Foundation is a repository for historical artifacts, texts, and evidence-based
practice documents and is an additional research resource for the
program.
Program
Admission Requirements
Admission to the D.N.S. program will be limited to candidates who have
completed a master’s degree with no fewer than 42 credits of study in nursing
and a G.P.A. of no less than 3.5 in their graduate coursework. The initial market will be employees
from Sage’s clinical partnerships, graduates of Sage Nursing master’s degree
programs and current nursing executives and managers in the Greater Capital
Region (including western
Facilities,
Equipment, Faculty and other Academic Resources
The D.N.S. program in Education and Leadership will be housed on Sage’s
The combined holdings of The Sage Colleges’ Albany and Troy libraries
include 370,000 volumes of books, serials and microforms, 16,000 printed and
electronic periodical subscriptions (with over 55,000 volumes of bound
periodicals) and over 34,000 media items. There is electronic access to over
40,000 serial titles and 10,000 books, with a strong emphasis on health
sciences. Additionally, extensive
online resources support the new program, including the most important databases
and journals in the field of nursing.
Through a regional library consortium, Sage’s students and faculty have
ready access to the holdings of other academic libraries, including the
University at
The Department of Nursing currently has 16 full-time nursing faculty
members supporting a Bachelor of Science curriculum (including an RN bachelor’s
completer program), a multi-faceted master’s degree program, and several
post-master’s certificates as clinical specialists and nurse practitioners. Eight current full-time faculty members
have earned doctorates and the credentials and research experience appropriate
for teaching in the doctoral program and participating in the oversight of
dissertations. The Department will
build on its expertise with team teaching, linking prominent professionals with
specialized knowledge with full-time faculty to form cooperative teaching
teams.
Department faculty have a strong record of successful grants in
curriculum, program development, and Human Resource and Services Administration
(HRSA) traineeships. Individual
faculty have secured external funding for research in palliative care,
gerontology, and community health.
Senior faculty hold regional, state, and national leadership positions in
professional nursing and health care organizations.
In January 2007, the Colleges hired a director for the program who has a
track record of scholarship, research, and leadership. The Colleges have just completed
interviewing doctorally prepared candidates for a joint teaching/research
position with St. Peter’s Hospital.
In addition to faculty responsibilities in the D.N.S. program, this
individual will shape the research infrastructure at St. Peter’s, working
closely with advanced practice nurses providing resources to effectively engage
staff nurses in nursing research and implementing evidence-based practice. St. Peter’s is one of four hospitals in
Prospects for
Employment/Further Education for Program Graduates
Currently there are no doctoral programs in nursing in the Greater
Capital Region. Geographically, the
closest D.N.S. programs with a focus on leadership in education and healthcare
administration are located in
In the Statewide Plan for Higher Education, the Regents have initiated a
comprehensive strategy to address the existing shortage in the State’s nursing
workforce (then estimated to be 17,000 nurses by 2005 and to rise thereafter).
The State’s residents rely on these professionals for their health and
safety.