Doctor of Professional Studies in Organizational Leadership (DProf)

Head: John R. Goss, III, PhD

The Doctor of Professional Studies (DProf) degree is appropriate to professionals with substantive experience in their respective professional fields, experiences which will inform and leverage learning, positioning learners to assume significant leadership roles in their professions. Advanced study in Organizational Leadership at Shenandoah University offers learners the opportunity to think deeply, examine thoughtfully, and understand theoretically the challenges and problems facing educational and other public organizations.

The DProf is student-centered, inquiry-driven, and problem-oriented. It is built around an interdisciplinary leadership and research core, with distinct program emphasizing an ethics-driven leadership model designed for professionals in institutions of public trust such as nonprofit service-oriented or community-based, public and private sector organizations, organizations, and higher education organizations (teaching or administration).

Flexibility in design of the program's concentration courses allows for optimal learning in one's specific area of interest. This program emphasizes the application of theory to real world problems and lived experiences, and includes a mentoring/tutorial component designed in link learners with veteran practitioners in their fields.

The DProf in Organizational Leadership is a 66-credit program. It is a degree designed to appeal to those with substantial experience in a non-profit, public sector or service profession, who wish to reflect upon and leverage that experience in the context of an academic program designed to enhance leadership and research skills. Outcomes may include developing skill sets that enhance advancement opportunities within the learner's field, or prepare the learner for a new role in organizational settings.

Program Core
Leadership
Societal Factors
Organizational Theory and Behavior
Governance
Contemporary Issues
Topics in Organizational Leadership

Research
Research Methods I and II
Advanced Research Methods
Statistics
Multivariate Statistical Analysis
Quantitative Methods Proposal & Pilot
Qualitative Methods Proposal & Pilot
Quantitative Methods or Qualitative Methods Lab

Individualized Concentration

Dissertation (15 credits minimum)