THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:

Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee

 

FROM:

Johanna Duncan-Poitier

 

 

SUBJECT:

Master Plan Amendment: St. John Fisher College, Ed.D. Program in Executive Leadership

 

DATE:

February 28, 2006

 

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 2 and 4

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Regents approve an amendment of the master plan of St. John Fisher College to authorize it to offer an Ed.D. program in Executive Leadership?

 

Reason for Consideration

 

          Required by State regulation.

 

Proposed Handling

 

          The question will come before the Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee at its March meeting where it will be voted on and action taken.  It then will come before the full Board at its March meeting for final action.

 

Procedural History

 

          Master plan amendment is needed because this would be the College’s first doctoral program.  St. John Fisher submitted its proposal in August 2005.  The Department completed its academic review on December 30, 2005 and began a canvass of all degree-granting institutions in the Genesee Valley and all doctoral institutions in the State that ended on January 27, 2006.

 

Background Information

 

          St. John Fisher College, Rochester, is an independent institution chartered by the Board of Regents in 1951 offering baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in the Biological Sciences, Business, Education, the Health Professions, the Humanities, the Physical Sciences, and the Social Sciences.

 

Fifteen institutions responded to a canvass.  Four supported the proposal; nine had no objection.  Teachers College raised concerns; Syracuse University objected.  Teachers College was concerned about approving doctoral degrees for non-doctoral institutions, particularly in school administration.  “No state, including New York, requires a doctoral degree for certification/licensure as a principal or school superintendent, the traditional audience for school leadership programs.”  Syracuse based its objection on four points:

 

1. The diffuse focus of the program – it’s hard to see how doctoral level work can be done in a program that encompasses so many fields;

 

2. Whether the College has the faculty and research traditions to be offering a doctoral program;

 

3. The impact on the reputation and marketing of other Ed.D leadership programs in the region – all Ed.D degrees in the state that are designed as professional education degrees may be harmed by the introduction of a doctoral program that uses the Ed.D title but differs substantially in focus and outcome from the other approved programs in New York State;

 

4. The need for such a program, given that the proposal cites waiting lists at several very prestigious institutions as a rationale.

 

          The abstract for the canvass, which St. John Fisher prepared, caused Teachers College to conclude that the program would be in school leadership.  It would not be such a program and would not prepare school district or building leaders.  It would prepare chief executives of for-profit, not-for-profit, and public entities in fields including business, health, community service, education, and government.

 

          With respect to the concerns about authorizing non-doctoral institutions to offer doctoral study, the College conducted a self-study of its readiness to offer doctoral programs.  Its peer review team evaluated its readiness as well as the proposed program.  It responded to the team’s report and included the self-study, the report, and its response in its proposal.  After reviewing the material and consulting with the College, the Department has determined that St. John Fisher is ready to offer doctoral study and that the program would meet registration standards.

 

Syracuse University understood that the program would not be limited to school leadership.  It was concerned about the effect on Ed.D. school leadership programs of the introduction of a broad executive leadership program leading to the degree.

 

As a program to prepare chief executives, the proposed program is one in management.  Statewide, ten institutions offer doctoral study in management.  While none of those programs lead to an Ed.D. degree, Ed.D. programs do exist outside education.  The University of Rochester offers an Ed.D. program in Mental Health Counseling and Supervision that is categorized as a program in social work and helping services and leads to licensure as a Mental Health Counselor.    

 

Recommendation

 

The Department has determined that the proposed program, if approved, would meet the registration standards set forth in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.  However, because this would be the College’s first doctoral program, the Department will make a peer review visit during its first year of operation.

 

          It is recommended that the Board approve an amendment of the master plan of St. John Fisher College, Rochester, to authorize it to offer an Ed.D. program in Executive Leadership.  This amendment will be effective until March 31, 2007, unless the program is registered by the Department prior to that date, in which case master plan amendment shall be without term.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

          If the Regents approve the master plan amendment, the Department will register the program, enabling the College to offer it and enroll students.

 

Information in Support of Recommendation

 

Academic Review

 

         A. Institutional Information.  The Board of Regents chartered St. John Fisher College in 1951 to offer programs of study leading to the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees.  Today, the College is authorized to award the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Bachelor of Professional Studies (B.P.S.), Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.), Master of Science (M.S.), Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.), Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), and Master of Science in Education (M.S. in Ed.).  It offers programs in the discipline areas of the Biological Sciences, Business, Education, the Health Professions, the Humanities, the Physical Sciences, and the Social Sciences.

 

          According to St. John Fisher’s concise mission statement,

 

St. John Fisher College is a collaborative community dedicated to teaching and learning in a personalized educational environment.  The College is guided by its Catholic heritage, as expressed in the motto of its founders, the Basilian Fathers, “teach me goodness, discipline, and knowledge.”  Through an education rooted in the liberal arts, we prepare individuals for lives of intellectual, professional, and civic integrity, in which diversity and service to others are valued and practiced.

 

B. Curriculum.  St. John Fisher seeks to offer an Ed.D. program in Executive Leadership.  The purpose of the program is to provide advanced study for executives and managers in business, education, health, public administration, and other human service sectors.  The program would be for senior managers seeking to become successful chief executive officers.  It is not intended for teachers aspiring to become school leaders or school leaders seeking to become district administrators.  It would offer a multidisciplinary curriculum focusing on core leadership and management competencies and research skills needed at leadership levels in today’s complex organizations.  The College’s peer review team conducted a site visit and found the proposed program to be well designed, organized, and rigorous with the promise of creating a diverse community, thus increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in doctoral programs.

 

To qualify for the degree, candidates would complete a minimum of 90 credit hours, pass an oral and written comprehensive examination, and prepare a dissertation.  Up to 30 credit hours from an approved graduate degree program may be considered for transfer.  All candidates would complete the program’s core requirements comprising of a minimum of 60 credit hours, including research methodologies, and the dissertation.  The multidisciplinary curriculum in leadership would use case studies, simulations, and seminars.  It would draw from such disciplines as business, education, health, history, human development, philosophy, psychology, and public administration.  Four clinical experiences would take place in research hospitals, not-for-profit community organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and government agencies.

 

The program would be based on a cohort-paced model.  Classes would meet year round in an alternate weekend format: Fridays, 5:00 - 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  The program would use a systematic approach based on other successful national models that align and sequence coursework and field experiences with the dissertation.  This approach and the corresponding schedule would make it possible for participants to complete the program in a timely fashion while continuing their careers.

 

This would be St. John Fisher’s first doctoral program.  However, the College now offers master’s degree programs in several related fields, including business, education, and the health professions.  Specifically, the College now offers M.B.A. programs in Management, M.S. in Ed. programs in School Building Leadership, and an M.S. program in Human Service Administration.  In 2001-02 (the most recent year available), it awarded 158 master’s degrees, of which 56.3 percent were in fields of Education, 27.2 percent in fields of Business, 9.5 percent in fields of the Health Professions, and the balance in other disciplines.

 

C. Students.  St. John Fisher anticipates an initial enrollment of 25 students, growing to 52 in the second year and 78 in the third.  Thereafter, enrollment would be stable at 74 students.  All students would be full time.  Admission would be limited to candidates with a master’s degree in a related field and a proven record of excellence in mid-level leadership and management.  Candidates would have strong academic backgrounds in business, education, health, human services, psychology, public administration, or the social sciences.

 

For admission, candidates would provide evidence of their potential to meet the demands of a rigorous doctoral-level program, including a written statement of purpose, professional writing samples, an on-demand writing sample, evidence of community service, a minimum of three years of senior management experience, and three letters of recommendations from successful executive leaders.  The selection process includes an interview by a panel of College faculty members and successful executive-level leaders who hold doctoral degrees.  The College anticipates that, in the program’s first year, there will be at least four applicants for every seat.

 

St. John Fisher sees the proposed program initially as serving a regional clientele.  It estimates that 70 percent of the first students would come from Monroe County and 20 percent from elsewhere in the Genesee Valley region, and that only 10 percent will come from elsewhere in the State.  The target population is successful, mid-level professionals representing the career areas noted.  To ensure that there is a sufficient supply of high quality applicants in future years, the program would consider expanding its recruitment efforts nationwide starting in the second year.

 

To determine interest, need, and demand for the proposed program, St. John Fisher surveyed 233 potential students who are currently enrolled graduate students and graduates of the College and individuals in senior management or leadership positions, and 102 prospective employers selected from a list of executive leaders in community agencies, businesses and educational institutions in Monroe County.  There was a 34 percent response rate from potential students and a 37 percent response rate from prospective employers.  The survey results from both potential students and prospective employers indicate that there is strong interest in and need for the proposed program.  The College has received over 150 inquiries from individuals interested in enrolling in the proposed program.  The vast majority of these inquiries have come from alumni who have completed a master’s degree and are currently employed in middle-level management positions in Monroe County.

 

St. John Fisher is committed to actively and aggressively recruiting candidates from groups that have been historically underrepresented in doctoral-level programs.  The prospective student body would reflect the range of diversity found in the greater Rochester area.  The College estimates that 35 percent of the students will be Black, Hispanic, or Native American, 5 percent will be Asian, and 60 percent will be White.  Over the five year period, 2000-01 through 2004-05, 10.2 percent of St. John Fisher master’s degrees were conferred on Black, Hispanic, or Native American recipients.

 

In the fall of 2005, St. John Fisher had 2,679 full-time and 849 part-time students, including 231 full-time and 601 part-time graduate students.  Of the full-time undergraduate students who entered the College in the fall of 1998, 59.2 percent had earned baccalaureate degrees by 2004, lower than the 65.9 percent average graduation rate for all independent colleges and universities that year.

 

D. Faculty.  St. John Fisher College has over 200 faculty members, of whom some 123 are full-time.  In the fall of 2003, 7.2 percent of the faculty (full- and part-time) were Black or Hispanic.  Fifty-nine full-time faculty teach graduate courses.  The six core faculty for the program come from the College’s schools of business, education, and nursing.  They have successful track records in higher education, their field of expertise, and dissertation advisement and are recognized in their professions.  All are full-time at the College.

 

In addition to existing full-time College faculty who have doctoral program experience, the proposed program would provide two additional full-time tenure track faculty positions and two part-time faculty positions dedicated exclusively to the program.  All full-time faculty working with the program would possess the experiences in leadership, scholarship, research, and dissertation advisement to support doctoral-level students, and ensure a high quality program of study.  The program would seek to maintain a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 6 to 1.

 

 

 

E. Resources.  The proposed program would be offered in the newly renovated James S. Alesi Academic Center, a state-of-the-art facility with advanced technological capacity.  Laptop computers and software packages would be provided to all students in the program.

 

The College library’s physical collection contains over 190,000 books, 983 periodical subscriptions, and 4,800 video items.  Through the library’s homepage and online catalog, candidates for the proposed program would have access to a virtual collection of 8,500 e-books, over 70 databases, scholarly websites, and the Internet at large.  The databases, selected by librarians in consultation with program faculty, contain full-text articles from over 8,000 periodical titles and indexing/abstracting for 12,000 titles.  Extensive holdings have been added to support graduate level programs, and with over 50,000 volumes in Business, Education, Health, Law, and the Political and Social Sciences, and over 1,200 relevant print and online periodical titles, the library is positioned to support the proposed doctoral program.  In addition to the library resources noted above, the College is prepared to commit an additional $15,000 per year in new funds to purchase books, journals, and databases specifically for the proposed doctoral program to ensure that current and relevant research, reports and other related materials are readily available for candidates and faculty.

 

A review of St. John Fisher’s audited financial statement for fiscal year 2004 indicated that:

 

 

 

 

According to unaudited income statements and balance sheets for fiscal year 2005, the College increased its net equity by $10.8 million to a total net equity of $80.6 million.

 

          F. Program Registration.  The Department has determined that the proposed program would meet the standards for registration set forth in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.  However, because this would be the College’s first doctoral program, the Department will make a peer review visit during its first year of operation.

 

 

 

 

Planning Review

 

G. Need.  Priority C8 of the Statewide Plan for Higher Education is Strong Graduate Programs to Meet the State’s Needs.  The proposed program will be for senior managers seeking to become successful chief executive officers.  According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition (December 2005),

 

All organizations have specific goals and objectives that they strive to meet.  Top executives devise strategies and formulate policies to ensure that these objectives are met.  Although they have a wide range of titles – such as chief executive officer, chief operating officer, board, chair, president, vice president, school superintendent, county administrator, or tax commissioner – all formulate policies and direct the operations of businesses and corporations, public sector organizations, nonprofit institutions, and other organizations.

 

Chief executives have overall responsibility for the operation of their organizations.  Working with executive staff, they set goals and arrange programs to attain these goals.  Executives also appoint department heads, who manage the employees who carry out programs.  Chief executives also oversee budgets and ensure that resources are used properly and that programs are carried out as planned.

 

Top executives must have highly developed personal skills.  An analytical mind able to quickly assess large amounts of information and data is very important, as is the ability to consider and evaluate the relationships between numerous factors.  Top executives also must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively.  Other qualities for managerial success include leadership, self-confidence, motivation, decisiveness, flexibility, sound business judgment, and determination.

 

According to the Handbook, “Top executives held about 2.3 million jobs in 2004,” nationwide, including 444,000 chief executive officers of businesses, educational institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and government agencies.  Service-providing agencies, including government, employ eight out of ten top executives.  It projects employment of top executives to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2014 (i.e., 13 percent between 2004 and 2014).  However, it estimates that “employment growth is expected to be much faster than average in professional, scientific, and technical services and in administrative and support services.  However, employment is projected to decline in some manufacturing industries.” The Handbook states that “Keen competition is expected for top executive positions because the prestige and high pay attract a large number of qualified applicants.”  On the other hand, “Because top managers are essential to the success of any organization, their jobs are unlikely to be automated or eliminated through corporate restructuring – trends that are expected to adversely affect employment of lower-level managers.”

In developing this proposal, St. John Fisher surveyed potential employers of the proposed program’s graduates to determine the demand and interest in the program.  According to the proposal, the respondents “overwhelmingly indicated a need for graduates of this program.  In addition, they were supportive of the unique features of the program such as format and content.”

 

Based on the above information, the prospects for employment for program graduates are excellent.

 

One of the primary goals of the proposed program is to address the shortage of individuals from groups historically underrepresented in doctoral-level programs.  Research clearly shows that there is a severe shortage of and high need for persons of color with doctoral degrees in all fields.  

 

H. Effect on Other Institutions.  Based only on their mix of doctoral programs, five institutions might be affected by St. John Fisher’s proposed program: SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo, New York University, Syracuse University, and the University of Rochester.

 

Fifteen higher education institutions responded to a canvass of all colleges and universities in the Genesee Valley region, all doctorate-granting institutions in the State, and additional institutions statewide.  Four institutions wrote in support of the proposal: Cornell University, Siena College, St. Bonaventure University, and The Sage Colleges.  Nine others had no concerns or objections.  Teachers College raised concerns and Syracuse University objected.

 

Teacher’s College was concerned about “approving doctoral degrees for non-doctoral institutions, particularly in school administration. . . .  Moreover, the need for additional doctoral degrees in this area is not clear.  No state, including New York, requires a doctoral degree for certification/licensure as a principal or school superintendent, the traditional audience for school leadership programs.”

 

Syracuse’s objection was based on four points:

 

1. The diffuse focus of the program – it’s hard to see how doctoral level work can be done in a program that encompasses so many fields;

 

2. Whether the College has the faculty and research traditions to be offering a doctoral program;

 

3. The impact on the reputation and marketing of other Ed.D leadership programs in the region – all Ed.D degrees in the state that are designed as professional education degrees may be harmed by the introduction of a doctoral program that uses the Ed.D title but differs substantially in focus and outcome from the other approved programs in New York State;

4. The need for such a program, given that the proposal cites waiting lists at several very prestigious institutions as a rationale.

 

          Inadvertently, the proposal abstract sent in the canvass, which St. John Fisher prepared, caused Teachers College and some of the other respondents to conclude that the program being proposed was one in school leadership.  It would not be a school leadership program and is not designed to prepare school district or building leaders.  It is intended to prepare managers to assume positions as chief executives of a wide variety of for-profit, not-for-profit, and public organizations and agencies, in fields that include business, health, community service, and government, as well as education.

 

          With respect to the concerns by both Teachers College and Syracuse University about authorizing non-doctoral institutions to enter the doctoral level, the College conducted a self-study of its readiness to move to the doctoral level.  Its peer review team evaluated that readiness as well as the proposed program.  The College responded to the team’s report and included the self-study, the report, and its response in its proposal.  After reviewing that material and consulting further with the College, the Department has determined that St. John Fisher College is ready to offer doctoral study and that the proposed program would meet registration standards.

 

Syracuse University understood that the proposed program would not be limited to school leadership.  It was concerned about the effect on existing Ed.D. programs in school leadership of the introduction of a broader program in executive leadership leading to that degree.

 

The proposed program is intended to prepare students to be chief executives.  As such, it essentially is a program in management.  Ten colleges and universities, statewide, offer doctoral study in management.  Nine of the ten offer programs leading to Ph.D. degrees; the tenth offers one leading to the Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) degree.  None of these programs leads to an Ed.D. degree.  However, Ed.D. programs outside the field of education do exist.  A precedent is found at the University of Rochester, which offers an Ed.D. program in Mental Health Counseling and Supervision that is categorized as a program in social work and helping services and leads to licensure as a Mental Health Counselor.