Offered in: Chicago | Roosevelt Online

This interdisciplinary doctoral program prepares students to be leaders in diverse organizational settings.  The program is grounded on three core principles:  

• Leadership is a process of social influence.
• Leadership is a construct that can be learned and skills can be honed.
• Leadership is rooted in the ability to communicate effectively, analyze situations thoroughly, adapt one's leadership style according to circumstances, be visionary, be inclusive, and be ethical.

The program provides students with an education that focuses on understanding the relationship of communication to leadership. Leadership has central principles, theories, and hypotheses which are essential to its successful execution. The ability to demonstrate leadership competencies is essential to being a leader.  Throughout the program, students are encouraged to critically evaluate existing practices while exploring innovative approaches to address persistent concerns in leadership and organizations, guided by a strong emphasis on social justice principles.

Program Goals

• Cultivate Effective Leadership Skills: Equip students with the knowledge and skills required to understand, practice, and refine effective leadership in diverse settings.
• Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in leadership: Instill in students the ability to champion diversity, actively promote equity, and seamlessly integrate inclusion into leadership practices.
• Drive Transformative Change: Nurture a proactive mindset within students, equipping them with the tools and mindset to address real-world challenges strategically.
• Tackling Real-World Problems: Offers insights into contemporary issues through the lenses of social justice, DEI, and global citizenship, preparing students to confront real-world challenges.
• Empower Specialized Leadership Approaches: Provide specialized knowledge and skills tailored for Organization Leadership or Higher Education Leadership.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Students will support a robust organizational culture through communication to facilitate organizational change across processes, systems, and people.
• Students will demonstrate analytical skills by synthesizing data and tools to make informed decisions within organizational contexts..
• Students will leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion to align with institutional visions and missions.     
• Students will apply strategic thinking and leadership theories in context to motivate, adapt, and create within diverse organizational settings.
• Students will apply perspective-taking techniques, including evolving technology and multiple other frameworks, to challenge organizational norms and practices to advance leadership and change initiatives. 
• Students will adopt a global mindset to develop and implement policies aligned with social justice principles.
• Students will create and defend applied, interdisciplinary studies addressing contemporary issues or problems within their domain.

The Ed.D. in Interdisciplinary Leadership offers two specializations: Organizational Leadership and Higher Education Leadership

Organizational Leadership Specialization - Learning Outcomes:

• Students will foster group dynamics through authenticity to inspire group development.
• Students will utilize mindfulness, emotional intelligence as a mechanism for strong group interaction and self-development.
• Students will facilitate conflict strategies and negotiation approaches with integrity.
• Students will recognize the most effective forms of power and influence and their ethical uses.
• Students will develop the leadership potential of others.

higher education leadership specialization - Learning OutcomeS:

• Students will demonstrate a student-centered mindset to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in higher education and promote the success of learners.
• Students will integrate knowledge of higher education history, governance, evaluation, and legislation to drive impactful changes within educational institutions.  
• Students will critically assess the implications of shifting social, economic, political, and global trends in higher education and respond adeptly. 
• Students will apply financial and budgetary practices aligned with institutional visions, missions, and strategic goals in higher education settings.

Graduates will acquire practical knowledge and skills, and through collaborative experiences and an enriched understanding, they will emerge as proactive leaders poised to drive organizational progress and advance their careers. Innovative approaches to course scheduling, the admission to candidacy process, and the capstone project will enable students to balance their professional and personal commitments and also develop expertise that might inform their own leadership in the future.

ADMISSION

Admission into the Ed.D. program in Interdisciplinary Leadership will require a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and a letter of intent that covers the student's rationale for pursuing the degree and the planned uses for the doctorate upon graduation.

Candidacy

To achieve the status of doctoral candidate, students must have completed all their content courses with a grade point average of 3.25 or higher, and received approval of their capstone project proposal. A student who has been admitted to the status of doctoral candidate must complete a capstone project and successfully defend it before the student’s doctoral committee in order to be recommended for the Ed.D. degree. A maximum of six years of study are allowed. If a student does not complete the capstone project within five years from the first semester of registration, the student is automatically dismissed from the program.

The curriculum, course titles, and descriptions are subject to revision and may change at any time.

The core curriculum provides all doctoral students with:

• Leadership skills for capacity building, advocacy, resource development, and communication.
• Foundational knowledge in leadership, social justice, DEI theories and studies of global inequalities
• Expertise in using research methodologies to conduct original research and to evaluate and apply existing research for social justice outcomes.

The program requires at least 60 semester hours of coursework beyond the master's degree, and three on campus residencies.  The program may accept up to 9 semester credits of master's degree coursework completed at an approved university or college.  Students will take three years to complete the coursework and one year to complete the doctoral project.

Students are allowed no more than two grades below a B-in the program and must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.25. Students will be dismissed from the program if the GPA standard is not met, or earns more than two grades below a B-.

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This 3-credit course is offered in one-credit hour increments.  Students will register for the course three times for credit. After earning the three credits, students who have not completed their capstone project will register for ILDS 690Z for no additional credit. 

Your degree map is a general guide suggesting courses to complete each term on the academic pathway to your degree. It is based on the most current scheduling information from your academic program. Your program’s degree map is reviewed annually and updated as schedules change (although you retain the same course requirements as long as you are continuously enrolled in your degree program).

Always work closely with your academic advisor to understand curriculum requirements and scheduling, as each student’s academic plan can look slightly different.

Higher Education Leadership Specialization-Degree Map

Your degree map is a general guide suggesting courses to complete each term on the academic pathway to your degree. It is based on the most current scheduling information from your academic program. Your program’s degree map is reviewed annually and updated as schedules change (although you retain the same course requirements as long as you are continuously enrolled in your degree program).

Always work closely with your academic advisor to understand curriculum requirements and scheduling, as each student’s academic plan can look slightly different.

Organizational Leadership Specialization