Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation

Admission

Please refer to “The Graduate Admissions Process” section for general graduate admission information. For admission to the Doctor of Education program, applicants must satisfactorily complete credential screening and a committee interview, including a written component. All applicants must also submit the following:

1. Completed graduate (Ed.D.) application accompanied by a non-refundable application fee.
2. Official transcripts from a regionally accredited college or university verifying completion of a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Send official transcript(s) directly to Wilmington University Graduate Admissions Office from the identified college or university.
3. Three letters of recommendation.
4. Written statement of professional and academic interest and intent.
5. Résumé.
6. International students only: the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

All of the above documents should be sent directly to the Graduate Admissions Office.

Purpose

Today’s organizations are faced with the dual challenge of maintaining operational excellence through continuous improvement and incremental change, while at the same time igniting and implementing innovations that will ensure the organization’s future existence.  Organizational learning and the individual development of organizational members/employees is the key to addressing both these challenges.  The doctoral program in Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation facilitates the learning and leadership development of personnel interested in guiding the organizational response to change and innovation, including but not limited to chief learning officers, corporate trainers, private and corporate consultants, and other human resource personnel interested in areas such as employee engagement and organizational development.  The program prepares students to translate research, as well as conduct research that will enable organizations to respond better and faster to the increasingly volatile, ambiguous and fast paced world in which we live.  The program features a cohort model in which students engage with one another in course work, internship experiences, and dissertation/scholarly applied research projects.

The program is offered in both face-to-face and online formats that allow for completion of program requirements in three and a half years.  Both formats take advantage of technology to facilitate instruction and collaboration, with those choosing the face-to-face option having the opportunity to meet once a week in most classes.  Courses are taught by full-time and adjunct faculty that are subject matter experts with real world experience in applying innovative, leading-edge practices that help organizations learn better and faster.

Program Competencies

Graduates in the Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation of the Ed.D. program are expected to meet the following program competencies through attainment of the competencies detailed in specific course objectives:

1. Articulate and model core beliefs of the organization and effectively demonstrate how to take action to achieve the organization’s vision, mission, and goals.

2. Promote a positive organizational culture that supports learning at the individual, team and organizational levels. 

3. Manage the organization, operations, and resources in a way that promotes a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
4. Collaborate with employees and other members of the greater learning community and respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources.
5. Act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
6. Understand, respond to, and influence the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.
7. Provide significant opportunities for candidates to synthesize and apply the knowledge, and practice and develop the skills in Competencies 1-6 through substantial, standards-based work in real settings, planned and guided cooperatively by the institution and organization personnel.
8. Demonstrate an ability to use information and information technologies to enhance the effective utilization and practice of educational research.
9. Generate ideas, processes and procedures that are innovative and challenge the status quo of a particular group or organization.

Program Design

The Doctor of Education program in Organizational Learning, Leadership and Innovation is designed to combine theory, practice, and inquiry to enhance students’ skills in leading learning and innovation at the individual, team and organizational levels. The program has three major features. One is a core program of coursework that includes content and research courses.

A second feature is an internship component consisting of two courses for six credit hours and 120 clinical hours in the field. The internship provides students the opportunity to engage in problem-based experiences outside the classroom setting that complement program coursework. Students are expected to hone their leadership skills through engaging in different aspects of organizational learning in real world in a variety of organizational settings. Candidates are expected to complete a minimum of 120 internship hours to satisfy the field component.

The third feature of the program is an applied research component consisting of nine credit hours and the capstone project that serves as a culminating activity for all previously completed courses and the field components. Students can be raised to candidacy before beginning the capstone component of the program. However, students cannot complete their final oral presentation or have committee final sign-off on their research work without being raised to candidacy. Being raised to candidacy requires the completion of coursework and passing a written content assessment that requires the application of knowledge gained through the course work and internship opportunities.  A total of nine credit hours are earned through the capstone project. The project should demonstrate the student’s research design and analytical skills, as well as the student’s ability to write for and present to a professional audience.

Program Requirements

Students are expected to successfully complete the five following program phases:

Course Requirements

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