Individualize Your Graduate Degree in Organizational Leadership at Shenandoah University

Leaders are required in a host of fields, which means organizational leadership degree programs should be designed to fit the specific needs and interests of each student. 

One way to do that is by merging a graduate professional certificate with a graduate degree. Shenandoah University’s Master of Science and Doctor of Professional Studies programs in organizational leadership have long incorporated students’ current, past or anticipated certificate credits, from both Shenandoah and outside universities. 

Personalized degrees

From their inception, Shenandoah’s organizational leadership programs were crafted with plenty of room for personalization, said Professor of Research in Organizational and Leadership Studies John R. Goss, III, Ph.D., who directs Shenandoah’s organizational leadership programs. 

For example, a student interested in a human resources certificate from an outside university could take their certificate courses concurrently with their Shenandoah master’s or doctoral courses, with the certificate serving as a concentration. The outcome would be earning two credentials: a certificate and a degree.

Within Shenandoah, several health-related certificate programs can serve as concentrations within graduate organizational leadership degrees for those pursuing leadership within health care fields. These certificates include public health, population health and healthcare management. 

Shenandoah’s organizational leadership programs operate as cohorts, with students learning in person (with the exception of online learning changes necessitated by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic) and gaining a rich and varied educational experience through collaboration with faculty and fellow students. 

Dr. Goss notes that the possibilities are great, both within Shenandoah and outside of it, when it comes to incorporating concurrent certificate studies (either online or classroom-based) into the university’s organizational leadership graduate degrees, which he says are “infinitely flexible.” 

Save Time and Money

Goss adds that earning a certificate concurrently with an organizational leadership degree also saves students time and money, because the “clock starts ticking” on earning one of the graduate degrees as soon as a student begins the certificate program they hope to incorporate  – students have five years to complete the master’s program and eight years to complete the doctoral program. 

That means if a student began their certificate studies three years ago, they would only have two years in which to complete the master’s program using that certificate as a concentration. Or, the student could choose to earn a graduate degree without using their certificate credits, which would lead to extra educational expenses. 

However, if certificate and graduate studies begin concurrently, both time and money are saved as a student earns a certificate and a degree, completely within the degree’s time parameters. 

More Information Is Just an Email Away

Goss notes that the programs are open to a wide variety of certificate options being combined with Shenandoah’s organizational leadership graduate degrees. He also invites anyone interested in crafting a degree tailored to their interests by incorporating a certificate program into it to “email me and we’ll set a time to talk.” Email him at jgoss@su.edu.