Executive Leadership, Ed.D.

Whether leading in education, healthcare, social work, non-profit or business, the program supports the development of executive leaders responsible for the creation and enactment of an organization’s shared mission. As executive leaders, graduates of the program will formulate a vision and values as they promote a culture of caring and develop the professional capacity of all organizational members while facilitating innovative change processes that support continuous organizational growth and improvement.

Those with expertise in administration, whether it be in public or private school settings, higher education, teacher leadership as well as those responsible for organizational growth and development in healthcare, business and other entities will grow their competencies in leadership and research. Students will work collaboratively, as a community of learners with faculty members and research mentors, to enhance their leadership skills.

Organizational leadership at the executive level, especially in education, cannot exist in a silo. The interconnectedness of our world supports the development of academic programs that model collaboration among diverse individuals with divergent types and levels of professional experience. Executive leaders should be able to engage in collaborative problem solving with a variety of stakeholders from within their organizations as well as with parties outside the organization in both the private and public sectors. Organizations and their communities are interdependent.

Le Moyne College’s doctoral program mirrors this interdependency and will be central to the leadership and administrative growth of candidates. This program is built to attract and support the development of leaders who will aspire to create educational cultures that model collaboration built upon foundations of social justice and to create cultures that are informed by best practices in leadership and administration from multiple organizational settings, such as teacher leadership, higher education, business and health care. True to our Jesuit mission and Jesuit tradition, graduates of this program will become transformative leaders who use a multidisciplinary approach to design and implement socially responsible change.

Program goals reflect four pillars of excellence: Leadership that Transforms, Social Responsibility, Scholarship and Communication. Each pillar further specifies one or two program outcomes in the leadership development of doctoral graduates.

The program, meeting year round, is based on small entering classes that will move collectively through the core, research and professional leadership courses as a community of learners. The program becomes more individualized as doctoral students reach the courses supporting development of their respective dissertations.

The 60-credit program is comprised of the following: 15 credits of core courses, 9 credits of research, 15 credits of professional leadership, and 21 credits of dissertation seminars. 

College Catalog - Ed.D. in Executive Leadership

The 60-credit doctoral program is comprised of campus-based coursework four weekends each fall and spring semester and three weekends each summer supplemented by online discussions and personal research.

The curriculum provides a rigorous sequence of leadership courses and experiences. The 60 credit hour program includes 15 credits of core courses, 9 credits of research courses, 21 credits of dissertation requirements and 15 credits of discipline-specific professional leadership courses.

The program is designed to be completed in 48 months on a part-time basis with all core, research and professional leadership courses completed at the end of 28 months. The program must be completed in six years.

Small Classes
A small learning community of approximately 10 students will begin each fall semester. 

The Global Jesuit Case Study Series (GJCS)
Students will have opportunity for involvement in, and contribution to, The Global Jesuit Case Study Series (GJCS) -- a partnership of more than 200 Jesuit college and universities across the world and headquartered at Le Moyne College. The GJCS cases capture, integrate and model aspects of Jesuit Higher Education thereby reinforcing the reflective action-oriented thought process that we strive to develop deeper in our students. Case studies illustrate leadership and decision making at multiple levels and across divergent organizations. Students will design and launch their own case studies in the field of educational leadership.