Launching an EdD in Community College Leadership Program with Activism in Mind

• Published in: Impacting Education
• Main Authors: Christine Harrington, John Melendez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2020-07-01
• Subjects: activism; community college leadership; social justice; equity; program design
• Online Access: http://impactinged.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ImpactingEd/article/view/114

The purpose of this article is to share an example of how an activism framework was used to design and launch a new EdD in Community College Leadership. Capper, Theoharis, and Sebastian’s (2006) framework for preparing leaders for social justice along with the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate’s (CPED) guiding principles and the American Association of Community College’s ([AACC], 2018) competencies for community college leaders guided program design and implementation. Marketing and recruiting efforts aimed at identifying a talented, diverse cohort and on-boarding strategies focused on creating a safe learning environment and a sense of urgency related to social justice and equity are shared. Examples of how activism is being emphasized through coursework and plans to nurture activism through experiential learning and the dissertation are also discussed. Doctoral programs seeking to promote activism will discover an effective framework and practical examples for this work.