Educational Leadership, Ed.D.

Ed.D. Information, Requirements, and Course Delivery
Program Distinctives
• The program has been designed for the educational practitioner. Consideration has been given to recognizing the challenges of professional adult learners currently holding teaching and school leadership positions and having
   family obligations.
• All courses are offered online scheduled in seven week terms. An exception: the program does require Virtual and/or On-Campus Residency attendance: Residency 1(R1) Introduction to the Ed.D. Seminar and Residency 2 (R2)
  Ed.D. Dissertation Seminar.
• The Dissertation Writing Block hours are a full semester in length: EDU 780, EDU 781, EDU 782, EDU 783, and EDU 784.
• Online courses are scheduled as 7 week courses: Fall 1 August start, Fall 2 October start - Spring 1 January start, Spring 2, March start, and Summer 1 May start, Summer 2 July start.
• Courses are taught by professional experienced educational leaders holding Doctorate Degrees in Education (Ed.D) or Doctorates of Philosophy (Ph.D.), who are Christians, and have been teachers and administrators in     public/private schools/higher education and/or are currently involved in public/private schools/higher education institutions.
• Courses are taught from a Christian worldview perspective.
• The University and its degree programs are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges SACS-COC.
• The program has been designed to address and meet the most current national administrator standards of the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) and the National Educational Leadership Preparation
  (NELP) standards, as well as the Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP) standards for advanced programs.
• Candidates will be required to successfully complete all courses in Phase I: Professional Specialized Courses before they may advance in the program. *NOTE: up to 30 credit hours in Phase I will be evaluated and may be
  accepted from a non-Belhaven earned Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in School Administration degree. Hours to be transferred from an Ed.S. other than School Administration will be evaluated on an individual basis.
• Before a candidate can progress and begin the Research & Methods courses, he/she will be required to successfully complete Transition Phase II: Pre-Dissertation by attending Residency 1 (R1) and by completing courses,     EDU 700, EDU 702, & EDU 704.
• EDU 701: Advanced Christian Worldview is required of all candidates entering Phase II of the Ed.D. program with an earned Ed.S. degree from an institution other than Belhaven. Graduates from the Belhaven Ed.S. program DO
  NOT take EDU 701.
• Residency 1 (R1) and EDU 702 and EDU 704 Advanced Academic Writing will determine the candidate’s eligibility to matriculate through the Ed.D. program.
• Phase II and Phase III courses are graded on an A, B, C, D, F scale. No plus or minus grades will be recorded. Phase IV courses will receive Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory grades.
• All courses in Phase II and Phases III must be completed with an overall GPA of B or better. No more than one grade of C is allowed. Courses cannot be repeated.
• A letter grade of a D or an F will be grounds for automatic dismissal from the Doctoral program, regardless of the candidate’s GPA. Courses in the Doctoral Ed.D. Phase II: Introduction and Pre-Dissertation Phase and Phase III:
  Research and Methods Phase cannot be repeated or taken a second time.
• Doctoral candidates must maintain continuous enrollment once they begin Phase IV of the Dissertation Block. A minimum of 12 credit hours (4 3-hour enrollments) is required and should be taken in sequence: EDU 780 - EDU
  781 - EDU 782 - EDU 783. EDU 784 is the course number for Supplement Dissertation hours as needed.
• Once a candidate advances to PHASE IV, the Doctoral dissertation phase, candidates will find that courses EDU 780 - EDU 781 - EDU 782 - EDU 783 are exceptions to the seven week course schedule. These courses are         part of the required 12 credit hour dissertation block needed for dissertation research and writing of the dissertation manuscript. These courses run for 15 weeks (one semester) in order to allow a candidate more time to work on
   writing the dissertation, as well as have time for chair and committee reviews, revisions, and approvals.
• All courses must be completed with an overall GPA of B or better. No more than one grade of C is allowed.
• Candidates entering in Phase I will have a seven (7) year timeframe in which to complete their plan of study, as well as defend their dissertation. The seven year time begins upon the candidate’s date of successful completion     of their first course in the Professional Specialized Phase I. Candidates entering in Phase II with an earned Ed.S. degree from another institution will have a five year (5) timeframe in which to complete their plan of study and         defend their dissertation.
• Candidates will be responsible for and required to follow all information found in the Belhaven University Graduate School of Education Doctoral Handbook found on the University’s Blazenet online site.
  Candidates admitted to the Ed.D. program will be required to complete Four (IV) Transition Phases in the course of their degree program. PHASES II & IV include two (2) Residency requirements.
• Phase I: Candidates complete their Professional Specialized Courses. No residency requirement
• Phase II: Pre-Dissertation Phase - An Intro to Developing the Dissertation -Residency 1 (R1) Virtual and/or On-Campus.
• Phase III: Candidates complete their Statistics & Research Design Courses No residency requirement.
• Phase IV: Dissertation Phase - Residency 2 (R2) - On-Campus