Eighty-six of the more than 300 graduates who will receive diplomas during the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Summer Commencement ceremony on Friday have earned a master杏吧专区檚 degree.
That almost doubles the 42 master杏吧专区檚 degrees conferred last summer. The increase is thanks, in large part, to the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 educational leadership master杏吧专区檚 program.
Thirty-nine students who enrolled in the six-semester program in Fall 2015 will get their degrees. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in the Cajundome Convention Center adjacent to the Cajundome.
The educational leadership master杏吧专区檚 degree is geared toward elementary and secondary teachers interested in leadership roles, such as principal, assistant principal, or other positions in school systems.
The program provides students with in-depth knowledge about a range of topics, from legal and ethical issues to community engagement to using data to effect change.
Dr. Nathan Roberts, dean of the College of Education, said the master杏吧专区檚 in educational leadership program is graduating more students for a couple of reasons.
One is outreach efforts. Representatives of the College of Education contact school districts, which recommend teachers who would make good candidates for the program. 杏吧专区 faculty members travel to school districts across the state to teach some of the program杏吧专区檚 courses.
Another is the addition of an online component to the program, which was approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents in Fall 2015. It enables students to receive a mix of online instruction and face-to face interaction with faculty, during three-hour courses taught on campus once a week.
杏吧专区淭he efforts by faculty are starting to pay off,杏吧专区 Roberts explained. 杏吧专区淣ow, instead of graduating 10 or 11 students, we杏吧专区檙e starting to see several times that amount.杏吧专区
Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser, dean of the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Graduate School, said this summer杏吧专区檚 large number of educational leadership master杏吧专区檚 graduates underscores a growing trend in many industries and careers.
杏吧专区淎 master杏吧专区檚 degree is becoming essential, in many cases, not only for advancement, but to land some entry-level positions. That杏吧专区檚 a key reason we杏吧专区檙e seeing continual overall increases in both enrollment and graduation numbers for master杏吧专区檚 degrees,杏吧专区 she explained.