April 15
Contact: Carol Pendergast
(805) 756-5330
Jim Gentilucci
(805) 756-5373
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cal Poly To Offer First Doctorate Through Partnership
of University Center for Teacher Education, UCSB Gevirtz Graduate School
SAN LUIS OBISPO - Central Coast working professionals interested in
earning their doctorate in education will soon be able do so without
leaving the county.
Cal Poly's University Center for Teacher Education and UC Santa
Barbara's Gevirtz Graduate School of Education have teamed up to offer
a unique field-based Doctor of Education degree program in educational
leadership.
Designed especially for working professionals, the doctoral degree
program is Cal Poly's first. The program emphasizes training working
professionals to be leaders of mid-sized to rural school districts and
offers access to an affordable, practice-oriented doctoral degree
program, according to Jim Gentilluci, director of the new program in
educational leadership and a faculty member in the University Center
for Teacher Education.
"The program is designed to prepare and support educational leaders to
engage in scholarly research, use data to inform decisions, critically
examine current educational approaches, and implement effective
practices that will improve student achievement and organizational
productivity, Gentilucci said.
"This is a truly historic event for both universities," Gentilucci
said. "The new doctorate in educational leadership is the first
doctoral program offered jointly by the two universities."
The degree program takes advantage of the strengths of both
universities to provide a number of innovative features including a
focus on non-urban schools, a fixed time to degree, research in
professional development districts, and annual dissemination of student
research findings at summer institutes, according to Gentilluci. "The
program is built upon a tripartite relationship among the two
universities, local K-12 school districts and community colleges."
Applications will be accepted later this month. Students accepted into
the program will begin course work in the fall.
For more information about the program, visit its Web site at
http://www.education.ucsb.edu/jointdoc/
or contact Gentilucci at (805)
756-5373.
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