Build your leadership skills and advance your career

The Organizational Leadership concentration prepares graduates for positions of leadership in education, business, public, and social agencies with the knowledge and capacity to understand organizations and to facilitate organizational change. This concentration offers an interdisciplinary curriculum involving the Schools of Education, Business, as well as other disciplines within the University.

Students enrolled in this program will experience collegiality and collaboration among students, and as organizational leaders between faculty and students. The course work offers flexibility so that each student can meet individual objectives and have opportunities to take action in practicums and consultation work. The core curriculum grounds the students both in theory of organization and in the tools and methodology of research so that they can contribute to scholarly endeavors and apply theory to problems facing organizations, institutions, and society.

Degree Plan

The degree plan specifies 57 semester hours of course work, a qualifying examination, and 9 semester hours of dissertation writing. The curriculum includes required courses in the fields of Leadership Studies, Organizational Development, Education, and Business and allowance for electives within specialized fields.

Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership (PDF)

Specialties

The curriculum allows you to take 18 hours of graduate level courses. Below are some examples in the following areas within the Dreeben School of Education. Students are not limited to these specialties. Other specialized areas can be negotiated with the academic advisor.

  • Adult Education
  • School Leadership (Region 20 Partnership) 
  • Student Services

Concentration Components

The Organizational Leadership Concentration has four components:

  1. Reflection: Core and concentration courses in leadership, organizational culture, research, technology, and ethics. Allied courses in business, organizational development, innovation, and education.
  2. Action: Practicums in organizational intervention and leadership
  3. Assimilation: Research projects and the Qualifying Examination
  4. Synthesis: Dissertation Research Specialty Areas

Admission Criteria

Admission to doctoral study is restricted to applicants whose backgrounds show promise of scholarship in their field of study. For admission to the doctoral program, an applicant must submit:

  • Evidence of an earned Master’s degree from an accredited college or university
  • Official transcripts of all college or university work
  • Two letters of recommendation, one from a professional colleague or former professor
  • Official GRE or GMAT scores
  • Other specific criteria may be required by concentrations within the Ph.D. program

International Applicants:

  • Regardless of English proficiency documentation, all international students from non-English speaking countries will be evaluated for English proficiency upon arrival at UIW. If English proficiency is deemed lower than UIW's requirements, the student may not be allowed to take courses other than English as a Second Language until the deficiency is removed.