In the fall 2007 semester, SF State will become one of seven California State Universities to offer a new doctoral degree in educational leadership.

The degree, known as an Ed.D. will be offered to adults with a master’s degree, preferably in education, who are already working in the educational field as teachers or administrators. The Ed.D. is designed with the purpose of giving new leadership skills to prepare those students to effectively work in the K-12 school system as well as community colleges.

The program will focus on five different curriculum categories specifically developed by members of the Ed.D. Task Force – a group of SF State faculty members, representatives from local K-12 districts and community colleges, and university academic affairs administrators.

“The doctorate in education is a very applied doctoral degree in that it will allow graduates to hit the ground running,” said SF State gerontology professor Darlene Yee, a member of the Ed.D. Task Force who has been teaching at the university for 16 years.

According to Yee, SF State – along with six other CSUs: Long Beach, Fullerton, Fresno, Sacramento, San Bernardino and San Diego – was chosen by CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed to develop the degree, since each university is already involved with educational doctorate programs.

David Meredith, a professor of mathematics and the SF State Academic Senate chair, said the program was approved by the senate Sept. 26, and will replace the current educational doctorate that SF State jointly offers with UC Berkeley.

“It is a good opportunity for students, as well as for our faculty, to teach such a program,” Meredith said. “Like with most education, it’s a win-win situation.”

According to David Hemphill the associate dean of the College of Education as well as a member of the Ed.D. Task Force, the new degree is highly dependent on specific strengths that are available on campus in the various colleges.

Hemphill said faculty members from the Colleges of Education, Business, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Health and Human Services will all contribute to shaping the focus of the program as well as teaching various classes.

Among the five curriculum categories designed in the colleges, some include leadership skills, equity, diversity and research activities.

“Drawing on the strengths of the faculty at SF State will make it a really strong program with a much greater depth of focus,” Hemphill said.

Yee said the educational doctorate is designed for working adults and will focus on meeting the needs of those students. The program is designed to last three years, including summer semesters. Classes will be offered at night and on the weekends to accommodate the 18 to 22 students that the Task Force is expecting to have in its first year.

Alongside the classes, which include three classes per semester for the first two years, students will also be required to work outside SF State classrooms with various K-12 schools and community colleges in the area.

“The students will be required to do hands-on field work with community administrators,” Yee said. “A type of professional networking.”

Lisa White, the associate dean of graduate studies and the chair of the Task Force, explained that the program will make itself available to the greater Bay Area as well as being affordable when compared to other Ed.D. programs at private and independent universities.

The cost of an Ed.D. will be about the same as a master’s degree, which at SF State costs full-time students $3,710 per semester. There are also financial aid opportunities available for those who qualify, White said.

The application process for admission into the program will begin in January, with an application deadline set for sometime in April 2007. For more information call the graduate studies department at (415) 338-2234.