Doctor of Education in Educational Administration

Admission to the doctoral program in Educational Administration is a three-step process. The process is competitive. In any given year, the department receives more applications from qualified students than can be accepted. Consequently, application materials should be carefully prepared so as to present the student in the most positive light. Do not include materials that are not specifically requested. The quality of the materials is much more important than the quantity of materials.

Process

Step 1. First, you must apply to and be accepted by the A&M-Commerce Graduate School. The general requirements for admission to the Graduate School are found in the graduate catalog and on the Graduate School web site. To be accepted into the Graduate School, you must submit to the Graduate School evidence to review that you have satisfactorily completed the following requirements:

• A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution or equivalent training from a foreign institution. The bachelor's degree must be substantially equivalent in content to degrees granted by Texas A&M-Commerce.
• An overall undergraduate grade point average of 2.75 or a 3.00 on the last 60 undergraduate hours or a 3.40 on the master's degree and work beyond the master's level.
• Official documentation of a satisfactory score on the combined verbal and quantitative portions (and analytical writing, if available) of the Graduate Record Examination. (This score does not have a minimum but is used by the admissions committee in conjunction with the other items to admit a student. Students should be aware that all of these items are used as screening factors, especially when having to make a choice between students who have applied in any given year.)
• A completed application for admission and application fee.
• Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work.
• A portfolio that supports your application as listed below in Step 2.
• Four reference forms, two of which must be completed by a person holding the doctoral degree. Reference forms may not be completed by Educational Administration faculty members at Texas A&M-Commerce.
• Any student with fewer than 24 semester credit hours of graduate level courses in Educational Administration may be required to enroll in leveling courses in order to gain competencies and knowledge most students gain at the master’s level.

The Graduate School will forward your application materials to the department only after the above requirements have been met. Moreover, admission to the Graduate School (in non-degree status) does not constitute admission to the department's doctoral program.

Step 2. We require that you prepare and forward to the Graduate School at Texas A&M-Commerce a portfolio, which includes a cover letter, resume, and selected artifacts. The admissions process includes further review of your credentials submitted to the Graduate School through a portfolio review. The portfolio should reflect your superior leadership and scholarship ability and work and must include the following:

• A cover letter addressing the following three topics: (1) personal philosophy of education and philosophy of educational leadership, (2) reasons for wanting to enter doctoral studies in Educational Administration, and (3) short-term and long-term goals. The cover letter should be typed, single spaced, and limited to one page.
• A professional resume providing information that establishes your qualifications for assuming leadership roles in educational organizations.
• Portfolio artifacts demonstrating your accomplishments and scholarly potential. These artifacts should be selected carefully in order to truly reflect your abilities and skills. The following items are suggestive of areas or materials you might select and submit for review in your portfolio: materials suggesting leadership and instructional roles, accolades, examples of scholarly work (very important), poetry, grants awarded, research papers, professional articles, public speeches, masters thesis, or other scholarly/professional work. The number of artifacts you present should be limited to quality materials and fit into a one-half to one-inch loose leaf binder. (This binder will not be returned. We suggest you make a copy of materials in the binder for future use.) This portfolio is a tangible representation of your ability to communicate ideas and information clearly, accurately, and professionally so it is important that you consider selection of materials carefully.

Step 3. An interview and extemporaneous writing sample is required for students who successfully complete the first two steps of the admissions process. The writing sample will be reviewed for content depth, grammar, syntax, and, in general writing style. The admission screening is held in the fall semester each year. Your portfolio and all other application materials should be received by the Graduate School on or before October 15. Students missing this deadline may not be considered for the following cohort group and will need to reapply for the next year. The Program Admissions Committee is composed of department members who are committed to the principle of equal educational opportunities consistent with the mission and policies of the Texas A&M University System, state, and federal law. At the conclusion of the process, a cohort of 15-20 students will be selected.

The Graduate School

For information and forms for the Graduate School, please visit the Graduate School web site. These forms are used throughout the graduate study period to schedule exams and complete the dissertation. There is also a University Doctoral Student Handbook on the Graduate School’s web page that contains detailed and important information for use by doctoral students in all departments. We suggest you make a copy or refer to the web-site regularly while in the program.

General Information

Students admitted to the doctoral program will begin classes as a cohort group in Summer I following admission and are required to progress as a cohort group through a sequence of doctoral only core courses and research tools courses. The cohort program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to progress through the program in a logical and sequential manner with a group of colleagues pursuing similar professional goals. The program sequence is outlined elsewhere in this document.

Doctoral students may choose the 90 hour post-bachelor's degree plan or the 60 hour post-master's degree plan as described in the Texas A&M University-Commerce Graduate Catalog. A 12 hour research tool sequence is required for each degree plan; these hours do not apply to the 90 or 60 hour minimum. Each degree plan has several common components:

• A minimum 36 hour major in Educational Administration, 24 hours of which must be taken in prescribed doctoral student only courses not available to master's or certificate programs.
• A 12 hour block of research tools courses, including six of which are available to doctoral students only.
• A minimum of 12 dissertation hours (EdAd 718)

The 90 hour post-bachelor's degree plan includes a 30 hour minor requirement and an 18 hour elective requirement, while the 60 hour post-master's degree plan includes a 12 hour elective requirement. Nine of these twelve hours of electives MUST be taken outside of the Educational Administration division of the Department of Educational Leadership.

Students admitted to the doctoral program may enroll in elective, minor, or certification courses prior to the summer in which their cohort is scheduled to begin.

Students admitted in December of each year may meet with their advisor and begin elective classes that spring, if they desire to begin immediately. The doctoral cohort only courses begin each summer.

Upon admission to the program, students will be assigned a major advisor. This assignment may be temporary and does not obligate students to keep this advisor throughout the program. Normally, the assignment of advisors will occur at the Doctoral Student Orientation held by faculty members.