WKU Educational Leadership Doctoral Program

How did earning the WKU EdD affect your career path?  

Earning the Ed.D. was integral to my years as a professor in higher education, but also as a school district administrator. Shortly after I defended my dissertation and graduated, I was offered an assistant professor of teacher education position at Austin Peay State University, where I taught all of their graduate and undergraduate assessment courses for two years. Later, I spent a little over four years as an associate professor of educational administration, leadership, and research at WKU before rejoining the Kentucky Department of Education in 2019. Additionally, my dissertation research (from which I was able to publish) helped me provide hours of job-embedded professional learning for teachers and administrators, as well as gave me the foundation for many courses I would end up teaching. 

What one skill or piece of knowledge that you learned in your EdD program has been most valuable to you? Why? 

The most important skill with which the Ed.D. provided me was to be a discerning consumer of research, which I needed in order to write an additional, credible resource on my topic. 

What advice would you give someone who is considering pursuing their EdD? 

First, I would advise someone to approach the Ed.D. realistically, especially when setting deadlines (particularly "self-imposed" ones). You will want to meet deadlines, of course, and do high quality work, but sometimes my self-imposed deadlines were more rigorous than they needed to be, or, looking back, should have been. And second, be ready to exercise some flexibility in your work-life balance — particularly your sleep schedule! 

Do you see that there is an existing need for more people in your field to have an EdD? 

I do see an existing need in public and private education (as well as in higher education for instructors of teacher education) particularly in Kentucky, where all teachers and administrators are charged with selecting evidence-based curricular resources. They can successfully do this without the degree, of course, but the Ed.D. Coursework already fosters that mindset in individuals, which makes discerning evidence- and research-based materials easier. 

Can you think of a specific opportunity that would not have been available to you if you did not complete your EdD? 

In addition to my career trajectory, just as important were the connections I made in my cohort. I now count many of these "connections" as lifelong friends, but we began as each others' support systems. 

What made you choose the WKU EdD over other options available? 

Except for my superintendent certification coursework at the University of Kentucky, I have proudly completed all of my other degrees and certifications at WKU (beginning with my B.A. in English Literature in 1990). I knew many of the professors from my education administration coursework already, and my friend and colleague Dr. Gary Houchens proved to be an invaluable resource on my dissertation committee. I looked at other programs, but the people at WKU made the difference to me.