Alverno College has a strong reputation in education both nationally and internationally . The education division has been recognized by the George Lucas Educational Foundation as one of 10 best US education programs; Dr. Arthur Levine recognized the education division as one of four exemplars in “Educating School Teachers” (2006). In 2019, the Learning Policy Institute, led by Linda Darling-Hammond, recognized Alverno’s education division as a site of “deeper learning” in the preparation of educators. Internationally, the Catholic University of Argentina has adopted the framework of the education division in its innovative programs for preparing teachers, which have been recognized for their strength across South America. Until 2020, however, all of this had been directed at the preparation of undergraduate and graduate initially licensed teachers, graduate-level advanced licensure candidates for school leadership, and master's degrees. The Alverno College Ed.D. programs in transformational educational leadership and higher education teaching extend this tradition of excellence into the doctoral level.
The program launched in Spring 2020 with two initial specializations: K-12 School leadership and superintendency, and higher education leadership and administration. In Fall 2020 two additional pathways were added, one in higher education teaching, and one designed particularly for the needs of students who had advanced to doctoral candidacy elsewhere but not completed their doctorates, considered “all but dissertation” or ABD.
The Ed.D. programs are open to students who have completed a Masters-level degree. The program is offered entirely online and largely asynchronous. The program requires two residencies, one in the first semester of the program and one in the last semester of the program.
This handbook sets forth the context, requirements, structure, coursework, dissertation, assessment expectations, and other key elements of the program. For further reading, please consult the Resources at the end of the handbook, many of which are the sources for some of the Handbook contents.
Unless stated explicitly in this handbook, the Ed.D. program follows Alverno College college-wide policies and procedures: see https://catalog.alverno.edu/collegepolicies/ for more.
Students applying to the EdD programs must have completed a Masters degree previously. People seeking Superintendency licensure must already hold a principal’s license in the state of Wisconsin and be eligible to pursue the Superintendent license under current state requirements.
The EdD program requires students to enroll in nine credits in each of three semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer). The program is six semesters long.
The residencies are intended to provide students with experiences that online modalities do not: sense of community, physical proximity, connection to the campus, and extension to the larger Milwaukee community assets. One residency is held in the first semester of the doctoral program and is virtual; one is held at the end of the program adjacent to the commencement ceremony, and is designed to be in-person but may be attended virtually.
Alverno College has a global reputation as a pioneer in the innovative ability-based model first implemented in the 1970s and continually refined and developed ever since.
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Assessment is a key component to the success of the Alverno Ability-Based Curriculum. Parameters of Alverno’s assessment model include: individual performance, group interaction, self-assessment, assessor review, assessor consensus, and specific feedback for the student.
The assessment model that Alverno College developed in the early to mid 1970's was a result of intensive research on testing methods for academic and corporate institutions and an exploration into the nature of learning. It was realized that students should not just know things, but be able to do what they know.
AT&T, the telephone monopoly of the 1970’s, was one corporation that Alverno collaborated with in researching assessment, assessment centers, and assessment instruments. Alverno found that AT&T was beginning to use situational simulations to evaluate prospective managerial candidates. Alverno realized that simulations or “academic performances” could be the basis for ongoing student learning when combined with self-assessment and faculty feedback. The groundwork was laid for Alverno assessment. Since 1976, people have traveled from all over the world to learn about Alverno's experiences with assessment-as-learning during summer workshops.
Alverno’s method of evaluating student learning, called assessment, is integral to learning in the Alverno graduate programs. Unlike many forms of testing, assessment evaluates not just what students know, but how well they can apply what they know.
The system of student assessment at Alverno College does not include reference to letter grades. In fact, one tenet of the College’s educational philosophy is that the faculty do not evaluate students comparatively using letter grades. Instead, we establish criteria for effective performance in each course. In the graduate programs, these criteria reflect standards for achievement within the discipline and professional areas, which guide all courses in the specific program. As part of professional programs, graduate course assessments are designed to engage students within their disciplinary and professional contexts. Examples include writing business reports that address strategic and operating issues, preparing proposals for inquiry-based nursing projects, and developing mentoring handbooks for school districts. We then provide students with significant narrative feedback describing the quality of their performances relative to those standards. A student who does not meet these standards at the level defined in each course does not pass the course. As a continuous process in which the students themselves play an active role, assessment helps both the student and the faculty member judge the student’s progress toward meeting the criteria for a given course.
Due to the rigor of our curriculum, we are able to confirm that a student who has successfully completed a course is held in “good standing.” This means that any student in good standing at the College has demonstrated the requisite understanding and practice of the disciplines/profession for the courses s/he has completed. Faculty distinguish quality of performance by providing a written evaluation of the student’s work that documents the specific way the student met or exceeded those standards. At the time of graduation, those evaluations are synthesized into a narrative statement that describes the quality of the student’s graduate work. This narrative statement is an objective evaluation of the quality of the graduate’s performance in her/his program of study and is an integral part of each student’s official final transcript.
The record of courses taken and a detailed profile of the student’s strengths and accomplishments become part of each student’s permanent records. Because this method provides much more information than a grade and fosters continuous learning, it is approved by accrediting bodies and accepted by graduate schools and employers. In fact, educators from across the country and around the world regularly visit Alverno to learn about this innovative and effective approach to helping students learn.
Since 1973, Alverno faculty have been refining our understanding of self assessment from data in your research studies and thorough reflection on our practice.
One result of our study is a developmental framework that we have articulated to guide our students and ourselves in recognizing and seeking to develop increasingly refined self assessment. We have identified four components of skills inherent in self assessment:
Within our framework, we have also distinguished beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of self assessment ability. We have learned that a student might show proficiency in some components at a beginning level, some at an intermediate, and some at an advanced one.
There are many ways of approaching self assessment, and each way has its own strengths and limitations. For that reason and because of the varied nature of students' learning styles, students should experience multiple approaches. Types of self assessment include those that focus on a
Feedback is a process that supports learning—the learning of students and the learning of faculty. Feedback functions in three ways to support the improvement of outcomes. First, feedback improves student learning within a course because it not only provides students with clear expectations and information on how well their performance measures up to those expectations, but it also suggests strategies to address areas that need further development. Second, feedback improves teaching because the careful attention to performance required to give good feedback also deepens faculty members’ awareness of student understanding or misconception, thinking and application, and expression of thinking in writing or speaking. Third, patterns of performance captured in feedback can assist a department or program to look across courses to uncover issues or problems and determine appropriate changes to improve programs.
A case study conducted by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (Allen 2016) identified benefits of this model as experienced by students.
“Alverno students identified four components of Alverno’s assessment model as having the most positive impact on their learning: explicitly stated learning outcomes; meaningful, useful feedback tied to these outcomes; self assessments; and faculty who see the value and purpose of assessment as integral to student learning. These components, combined with ample campus resources to improve learning, hands-on experience in the major, and a student- and learning-centered campus culture, provide a meaningful and positive… experience for Alverno students (3)”
There are five advanced program outcomes that are infused into every course outcome and each module objective. Together, they connote an educational practitioner able to perform at the highest and most scholarly levels. Alverno College uses an “ability-based” model of teaching, learning, assessing, and self assessing. The doctoral program in education is founded on the strengths of this model. The advanced outcomes in education framework identifies five key “abilities” that educators should demonstrate: Conceptualization, Diagnosis, Communication, Coordination, and Inclusive Interaction. This framework sets forth a developmental continuum of abilities, beginning with initially licensed teachers at the start of their teaching careers. By the doctoral level, we expect students to demonstrate the highest level of these abilities. These abilities will be holistically assessed throughout the EdD coursework. Each set of course outcomes is designed to generate evidence of program outcomes.
Conceptualization: integrating disciplinary knowledge with educational frameworks and a broad understanding of human development in order to plan and implement learning processes
Diagnosis: interpreting observations of behavior and situations using frameworks in order to foster learning
Coordination: managing resources effectively to support learning goals
Communication: Using oral, written, and media modes of communication to structure and reinforce learning processes
Inclusive Interaction: demonstrating professional responsibility in diverse learning environments
The doctoral degree pathway requires 54 credits at the post-masters level. For candidates pursuing a Wisconsin Superintendent license, an additional three credit practicum will be required.
The EdD is designed to be completed in 24 to 27 months. Students may begin the program in fall and spring semesters. If a student needs to shift to an alternate timeline for whatever reason, they should work with the EdD director to identify what implications their change may have for program completion.
The program will include regular, brief residencies on the Alverno campus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The majority of coursework and dissertation development will be completed in online seminars and courses.
Students in this program will begin the development of their dissertation the very first semester. Each fall and spring semester will include extensive development, revision, and defense of the student dissertation.
Candidates seeking admission will be required to submit evidence of the following:
Each content course is offered in eight-week modules during the fall and spring semesters. During the summer semester, three eight-week courses run in parallel over 10 weeks. Dissertation courses, that run only in fall and spring semesters, are highly personalized to each student’s dissertation interests. Those courses meet biweekly over a 16-week time frame. Each 16 week semester, students will be enrolled in nine credits: two 3-credit content courses, one offered in the first eight weeks and one offered in the second eight weeks, and one 16-week dissertation seminar. Students entering on the All But Dissertation Pathway who have established prior to admission that they advanced to doctoral candidacy in their previous program are not required to take EDD 804, EDD 811, EDD 813, and EDD 850. Generally, ABD students take six credits most semesters. Students entering on the Ed.S. to Ed.D. pathway are not required to take specialization courses. Consult your academic evaluation for your program requirements.
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Superintendency track students only
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K-12 Leadership track Superintendency only
Because the program is highly interdependent and relational, Alverno College expects that all participants (students, faculty, and advisors) adhere to basic professionalism expectations as well as continuously striving toward lifelong goals for professional growth.
These expectations are based on the key dispositions of respect, responsibility, communication, and collaboration. If consistently practiced, they provide a base for growth toward the deeper dispositions necessary to be effective with all learners and colleagues. If violated, they are cause for concern and appropriate intervention. Students may be asked to reflect on their demonstration of these basic expectations in classes or advisories and they may be used to document any issues with student performance and subsequent interventions.
Alverno Education students and graduates work to build professional dispositions across their coursework, through self assessment and reflection, collaboration, and systematic inquiry. Course content engages them in the study of education as a moral practice, along with a strong focus on supporting learners and colleagues in continuous development and growth. Doctoral students are asked periodically to reflect on and give examples of evidence of their growth in these beliefs and commitments, especially in their work to build cultures of learning that reflect them.
Alverno College uses criteria developed by the Communication Ability Department to guide our evaluation of written and oral communication. Consult the Appendices of this document for the writing criteria and speaking criteria.
In this course, students will show relationships between his/her professional practice and context to appropriate conceptual frameworks, demonstrate deep understandings of one’s current practice within the context of responsive and transformational leadership,analyze principles of responsive and transformational leadership as they relate to K-12 and higher education and use principles of responsive and transformational leadership to begin to define themselves as leaders.
In this course, students will read broadly and deeply from a variety of scholarly research. They will create an annotated bibliography structure to which they will add on throughout the program. They will engage in discussion about research and situate their interests and contexts in relationship to existing and needed research, identifying potential sources of scholarly contribution. They will develop comfort and fluency with APA style and formatting.
In this course, students will analyze educational situations and issues to determine ethically appropriate responses, articulate their professional values and how they inform responses to case studies and current educational events, and appropriately apply frameworks of ethical organizational leadership to K-12 and higher education settings
In this course, students will explore and evaluate diverse research methods and design. They will consider the benefits and constraints of various research paradigms and methods. They will identify an initial plan for a research method.They will explore the possibility of co-authorship and collaboration in their scholarly projects.
In this course, students will deepen their understanding of statistical and quantitative data, as well as tools to support effective analysis of data. They will critically question how statistics are used to support arguments and claims.They will use and evaluate diverse tools for quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. They will identify appropriate tools and approaches for their own research design.
In this course, students will propose strategies to address issues of disproportionality and inequity in educational settings, analyze patterns of bias within their current setting and design meaningful interventions, and identify diversity/equity issues and their impact in educational settings.
In this course, students will explore advanced topics in students’ chosen methodology, including mixed-methodology projects. They will engage in critical research instruments selection (e.g. specific survey, focus group protocol, etc.), and select appropriate research methods, providing a defense and rationale. They will produce a final draft of the methodology section of their proposal.
In this course, students will refine their power as writers and communicators, receiving substantive feedback on their dissertation as it nears completion. They will evaluate possible ways to communicate their research findings in diverse publications: books, articles, podcasts, presentations, roundtables. They will gain experience in writing conference proposals, book prospecti, and peer-reviewed journal articles.
In this course, students will assess their current practice within the context of responsive and transformational leadership and describe how they will develop new leaders within their educational setting. They will apply principles of responsive and transformational leadership to define themselves as leaders, and describe how their leadership was informed by their research.
The following sets of 3-credit courses will involve each student in deepening their understanding of their area of specialization: K-12 school and district leadership for prospective superintendents; K-12 educator preparation and teacher education; higher education college and university leadership and administration; or higher education teaching and learning. Students pursuing the superintendent license will complete one additional three-credit practicum course. Students who have advanced to candidacy previously in other programs will complete the higher education teaching and learning specialization.
EDD 821 Leadership, Educational Law and Policy
In this course, students will understand the authority, liability, and legal responsibility of school personnel in public and private institutions. The course explores the impact of local, state and national constitutions, statutes, and court decisions on education. Topics will include but are not limited to employee rights and discipline, curriculum, student rights and discipline, special education, contracts and contemporary education issues. Students will explore policy development as a political process and develop an understanding of power structure, the role of leadership in impacting policy, dealing with influential groups and lobbies, and the process of policy development at all levels.
EDD 822 LEA Governance, Management and Finance
The course will explore the organizational structure and administrative relationships in school settings through the lens of systems thinking and the study of administrative behavior. Students will explore organizational theory, the collection and distribution of local, state and federal revenue, problems and issues in funding education, and resource allocation. Managepoliticalpolitical, and social forces affecting schools.
EDD 823 Assessment, Technology and Data for School Improvement
This course explores the use of evaluative information for administrative decision making and the administration and evaluation of educational projects and programs. Students will develop the ability to assess needs, plan projects and programs, use technology for efficiency and effectiveness, and evaluate the impact of educational programs and decisions.
EDD 825 The Superintendency: Climate, Personnel, and Supervision
This course explores the personal commitment required in the role of the school superintendent, the study of systematic leadership theory and practice, the development of professional competencies and the ability to create the climate and capacity for learning across the organization. Research, theory, and best practices of instructional leadership will be explored as a means to build capacity and equity for student learning. The relationship between staff supervision, professional development, and student achievement will be stressed.
EDD 826 Superintendency Practicum (solely required of students qualified to pursue licensure)
The field experience and course support allows the aspiring administrator the opportunity to practice administrative leadership in a setting beyond an individual school site. A practicum plan will document leadership exposure and practice in the administrative leadership standards for licensure. Students will examine a range of problems in school administration, develop projects to meet the needs of the field experience, and provide evidence and artifacts of learning through the completion of a final portfolio. The practicum will be supervised by a site administrator and Alverno faculty collectively.
EDD-827 Superintendent Licensure Exit Portfolio (0 credits)
This portfolio provides evidence of the candidate's ability to accomplish the responsibilities of a school superintendent and is aligned to the Wisconsin Administrator Standards and the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders.
Prerequisite(s): Full EDD students, concurrent with EDD-826.
Superintendency Licensure
Once requirements are met, candidates will be endorsed for Superintendent licensure in the state of Wisconsin.
EDD 831 Higher Education Legal Issues and Accreditation
In this course, students will compare and contrast regional accrediting body expectations, with an emphasis on the one that accredits IHEs in their region. They will apply what they learned about accreditation to write a proposal for a new degree program and prepare for a mock annual review.
EDD 832 Higher education curriculum and assessment leadership
In this course, students will demonstrate their ability to work effectively and collaboratively with key higher education stakeholders with faculty. They will engage in examination and oversight of curricula, board and trustee engagement, and effective addressing of student and faculty concerns and grievances.
EDD 833 Assessment, Technology and Data in Higher Education Settings
In this course, students will analyze data used in program evaluation, including retention, graduation and attrition data, evaluations of faculty, enrollment trends and patterns and use the analysis to design a program evaluation process for a higher education setting. They will analyze technological tools for mining and examining data from higher education settings and determine what tools are appropriate for what purposes. Applying what they have learned about transformational leadership, students will design a data “retreat” that uses data for program review and goal setting.
EDD 835 Higher Education Roles, Responsibilities and Leadership
This course explores the personal commitment required in the role of the IHE leader, the study of systematic leadership theory and practice, the development of professional competencies and the ability to create the climate and capacity for learning across the organization. Research, theory, and best practices of system leadership will be explored as a means to build capacity and equity for learning. The relationship between faculty performance and academic innovation, professional development, and student achievement will be stressed.
EDD 832 Higher education curriculum and assessment leadership
In this course, students will demonstrate their ability to work effectively and collaboratively with key higher education stakeholders with faculty. They will engage in examination and oversight of curricula, board and trustee engagement, and effective addressing of student and faculty concerns and grievances.
EDD 833 Assessment, Technology and Data in Higher Education Settings
In this course, students will analyze data used in program evaluation, including retention, graduation and attrition data, evaluations of faculty, enrollment trends and patterns and use the analysis to design a program evaluation process for a higher education setting. They will analyze technological tools for mining and examining data from higher education settings and determine what tools are appropriate for what purposes. Applying what they have learned about transformational leadership, students will design a data “retreat” that uses data for program review and goal setting.
EDD 838 Instructional Design Fundamentals
In this course, students will develop deep understandings of theories and practices of instructional design and assessment-as-learning related to their disciplinary/ content contexts in higher education institutions.
EDD 839 Teaching, Learning, and Assessing in Diverse Educational Contexts
In this course, students will develop deep understandings of the lived experiences, cultural knowledge, and prior learning of the students in their higher education contexts. They will incorporate these understandings into engaging, inspiring, and authentic learning experiences in their content area(s) and related to higher education academic programs.
A student who can demonstrate that they have previously been advanced to candidacy in another doctoral program may be admitted to the ABD pathway. In this case, a student’s required courses will be reduced based on their prior coursework. They will complete some core courses, a specialization set of courses, and the dissertation courses.
The Ed.S. degree is for Education Specialists (e.g. School Psychologists, Superintendents) and is often accompanied by a specialized license (for example, from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction). However, someone working as a Superintendent of a school district or in a role as a School Psychologist may desire to attain the terminal degree. This program is similar in structure to the ABD program, which transfers in doctoral credits pre-candidacy and reduces the time to degree completion, but in this case instead of waiving the core and research courses, the transferred courses would be those that can substitute for the Superintendent specialization. This pathway is for any student holding a completed Ed.S. degree, includes all of the core courses and research courses, but replacing the specialization courses with prior coursework at the post-Masters level as electives transferred in from any completed Ed.S. degree.
The Dissertation Advisor is assigned at the beginning of the program and will be the main point of contact for the student as they move through the dissertation advisory courses. Advisors will meet with students, usually biweekly in the fall and spring semesters, and will provide oral and written feedback and guidance to the student. As dissertation advising is a form of teaching, Dissertation Advisors are expected to exemplify Alverno College effective teaching and feedback methods.
Because the program is “dissertation from day one,” each EdD student must also fully commit to the relationship with the dissertation advisor. Students are responsible to meet expectations for communication, professionalism in meetings, and timely completion of work. As mentioned above, students must provide evidence of their basic and ongoing dispositions for professionalism in all of their work in the program, including work with their advisor. McNeil (2022) has created a helpful list of mentee characteristics that reflect how students can make their commitments evident, which are consistent with Alverno’s expectations for engagement and professionalism:
McNeil, M. (2022), “Habits of Highly Effective Mentees.” Personal Communication.
If a student or advisor has concerns about their dynamic, they should contact the EdD program director. Advisor changes are only to be initiated after the student and advisor have first attempted to articulate and address points of tension. Students requesting an advisor change should do so recognizing that their request may imply delays in their program completion. Students may not request an advisor change more than once unless there are significant extenuating circumstances. The program director may initiate an advisor change if there is a program or faculty concern.
If an advisor initiates a change, they will do so in consultation with the EdD program director. If more than one advisor initiates a change with a student as result of a pattern of behavior related to feedback or successful progress toward to the completion of the dissertation, this may be cause for a change in academic status or delay of program completion. Both advisor and advisee are responsible for co-creating a productive and collaborative scholarly dynamic.
The Alverno College Library provides access to academic and scholarly resources. Below are several links that are designed to support doctoral students’ work in their courses and on their dissertations.
Students will enroll in a Dissertation Advisory course each Fall or Spring semester that they are in the program. They will be expected to continue developing their dissertations during summer semesters, though there is not a formal Advisory course during the summer semester.
In this course, students will identify a potential area for study, will identify members of the dissertation committee, and will develop the initial research question and complete a draft literature review.
In this course, students will complete the introduction and literature review, and (if taken concurrently with Research Methods 1) begin development of the methodology section, or (if taken concurrently with Advanced Research Methods) complete their methodology section.
Each student’s dissertation committee will be comprised of no fewer than three and no more than five members. At least two must be members of the Alverno College faculty. “Outside” committee members must be proposed to the dissertation advisor and approved by program leadership, and their CV is gathered and retained by the program director.
Once a student has completed her or his dissertation proposal in Dissertation Advisory 2 and Advanced Research Methods, which are taken concurrently for Spring start students and consecutively for Fall start students, they will participate in a proposal defense with their dissertation committee. In this defense, the student must succinctly and clearly set forth their research question, grounded in the literature, and describe their methodological proposal. They may also elect to describe their planned means of data analysis.
Prior to the defense, the student should have completed chapters 1, 2, and 3 of their dissertations (Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology.) The defense will be scheduled with the Dissertation Advisor and at least two other members of the student’s committee (the program director may stand in for one member of the committee if schedule constraints require).
Elements of the Proposal Defense:
Students must submit required forms for exempt or non-exempt research to the Alverno College Institutional Review Board, either to the Education Division representative or the full board. They may also be required to submit IRB or other means of approval and consent to their own institution or school/district. If a student is studying Alverno College, they must also apply to the College for participant consent. The student is responsible for identifying these requirements and fulfilling them before they are permitted to gather data for their research. The Alverno College IRB web page on the College website has more guidance related to these processes and requirements.
In this course, students will gather and analyze the data for their dissertation, and create the structure for their Findings section.
As students gather and analyze their data, they must update members of their committee of their progress and process no less frequently than monthly. They must communicate with their Dissertation Advisor at minimum biweekly.
In this final dissertation course, students will write up and defend their dissertation, receive feedback, and make any needed revisions.
Purpose of the Dissertation Defense
The Dissertation Defense is a formal presentation of the entire dissertation project. Students must convey their entire finished dissertation to the committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense so that the committee members have the opportunity to raise any significant concerns prior to the defense. If significant concerns are raised, the defense may be rescheduled to provide additional time to address the concerns. If the defense itself yields concerns or required revisions, the student must complete those revisions by at least two weeks before commencement and submit the revised dissertation to their Advisor. If they require more time to address or complete revisions, their program completion may be delayed.
Because this program is an Ed.D., there is an expectation that students’ dissertation project has emerged from and is aligned to their professional practice and context, as opposed to evaluating whether the project represents a significant new contribution to existing scholarly literature, as might be expected in a Ph.D. program. It’s also a program happening at Alverno, which means that, consistent with our abilities-based assessment model, we have explicit program outcomes and assessment criteria to guide us in everything we do. Therefore, we have a rubric developed by the program design faculty and dissertation advisors that we use during the proposal defense (here is a link to the rubric:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gN8HVxF4AK6LraZS4TUBiGHe7YhvkMJI5zfXYRM9qfs/edit).
As an outcomes-based program, we elicit evidence of the Alverno Ed.D. advanced program outcomes within those criteria. Those five outcomes, along with ways in which they show up in the dissertation rubric criteria, are:
Conceptualization- knowledge of content and theory, showing breadth and depth of in scholarly context
Communication- clarity of writing, organization, voice
Coordination- marshaling relevant resources, scholarly sources in lit review, methodological justification, participant recruitment, timeline, overall organization of dissertation
Diagnosis- overall framing of the inquiry, intended data gathering resources, feasibility of study, plan for analyzing data, accuracy of findings and implications
Inclusive Interaction- professionalism, ethics, consideration of and protection of human subjects, trustworthiness, urgency of the area of inquiry
There are two main components involved in the dissertation defense-
In considering all those components, the committee explicitly refers to the rubric linked above.
If a student wishes, they may invite family and friends to attend the defense, but these people do not participate in the defense, and they depart before the committee deliberations. The defense is a final assessment and while it may be celebratory, it must focus on the rigor embedded in the dissertation rubric. Thus, the dissertation defense is different in purpose, content, and evaluation than the final program residency, which is entirely celebratory.
Students must submit a copy of their completed dissertation to the Alverno College library, following the requirements of the Head Librarian.
Each week students will be expected to engage thoughtfully with course readings and resources, complete required assignments and demonstration of outcomes, and to identify growth areas for development. Only the student themself can know how much time that will take. To strategize around ways to organize time successfully, please contact your faculty member.
Your Alverno email is an official way the college uses to communicate with you. This includes all instructor communication. Students are expected to read Alverno email at least every other day.
Timely arrival and attendance at every synchronous class session is required, as well as active engagement in asynchronous collaborative assignments. If a student is absent or otherwise disengaged during more than two course modules, they may be unable to demonstrate outcomes for the course.
Each course syllabus lists required outcomes. These outcomes inform the design of course assessments and learning experiences. Faculty may alert students early on in the course if they have concerns about lack of evidence of outcomes. Evidence may be found in assignments, classroom engagement, peer group collaboration, course experiences, summative presentations, or other means designed by the faculty.
Many courses incorporate a summative demonstration of outcomes. Guidance for summative assessments may be found in the syllabus, in the course learning management system (e.g. Moodle) or in the portfolio system (e.g. Livetext). Commonly a summative demonstration of course outcomes will be accompanied by a required summative self assessment.
Alverno’s method of evaluating student learning, called assessment, is integral to learning in the Alverno graduate programs. Unlike many forms of testing, assessment evaluates not just what students know, but how well they can apply what they know.
The system of student assessment at Alverno College does not include reference to letter grades. In fact, one tenet of the College’s educational philosophy is that the faculty do not evaluate students comparatively using letter grades. Instead, we establish criteria for effective performance in each course. In the graduate programs, these criteria reflect standards for achievement within the discipline and professional areas, which guide all courses in the specific program. As part of professional programs, graduate course assessments are designed to engage students within their disciplinary and professional contexts. Examples include writing business reports that address strategic and operating issues, preparing proposals for inquiry-based nursing projects, and developing mentoring handbooks for school districts. We then provide students with significant narrative feedback describing the quality of their performances relative to those standards. A student who does not meet these standards at the level defined in each course does not pass the course. As a continuous process in which the students themselves play an active role, assessment helps both the student and the faculty member judge the student’s progress toward meeting criteria for a given course.
Due to the rigor of our curriculum, we are able to confirm that a student who has successfully completed a course is held in “good standing.” This means that any student in good standing at the College has demonstrated the requisite understanding and practice of the disciplines/profession for the courses s/he has completed. Faculty distinguish quality of performance by providing a written evaluation of the student’s work that documents the specific way the student met or exceeded those standards. At the time of graduation, those evaluations are synthesized into a narrative statement that describes the quality of the student’s graduate work. This narrative statement is an objective evaluation of the quality of the graduate’s performance in her/his program of study and is an integral part of each student’s official final transcript.
The record of courses taken and a detailed profile of the student’s strengths and accomplishments become part of each student’s permanent records. Because this method provides much more information than a grade and fosters continuous learning, it is approved by accrediting bodies and accepted by graduate schools and employers. In fact, educators from across the country and around the world regularly visit Alverno to learn about this innovative and effective approach to helping students learn.
A student’s progress report is available on Interactive Online (IOL) approximately one week after the close of the semester. Contact the Registrar’s Office for access information.
Progress in courses is reported as Satisfactory (S) when all requirements of the course — mastery of subject matter and development of abilities — have been met.
An Unsatisfactory (U) indicates insufficient evidence for meeting the standards of the course.
An Incomplete (I) is reported when only a minimal amount of work remains to be completed. An Incomplete must be removed by the date stipulated by faculty. An Incomplete in a prerequisite course must be satisfactorily removed and reported to the Registrar’s Office before the student can begin the subsequent course(s). If the Incomplete is not removed, an Unsatisfactory is awarded.
When a faculty member enters a progress code, they also enter a “grade equivalent.” For a graduate student who has been successful in a course, that number will be either a 3.0, 3.5, or 4.0. Students may request their grade point equivalent from the Registrar. Faculty advisors do not have access to students’ GPE.
If a student believes that they have evidence from their professional expertise that aligns to and demonstrates alternative sources of evidence of outcomes for a course, they may contact the EdD Program Director to learn more about Alverno’s processes for evaluating and assessing evidence related to awarding Credit for Prior Learning. If the program director approves the request to demonstrate evidence of prior learning, the student will create an evidence portfolio and a self assessment narrative following Alverno CPL processes. If the review of materials is determined to be sufficient evidence of outcomes, the student will be awarded credit for the course. Students may not receive more than 6 credits (two courses) via CPL.
Students who have not demonstrated outcomes for a course may be required to repeat it or demonstrate equivalent outcomes attained elsewhere. If a student wishes to apply coursework completed elsewhere as evidence, this must be approved by the program director or the student’s advisor.
Students with a concerning pattern of lack of successful attainment of outcomes may be placed on probation, probation with warning, or in extreme circumstances, recommended for dismissal from the College. Students who have been on probation or probation with warning may be returned to academic good standing after remedying the concerns and meeting outcomes. The Graduate Council of Alverno College coordinates the Academic Status meetings and decisions.
Alverno’s college-wide Academic Misconduct Policy states that students’ work must be entirely their own intellectual work. Work generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, or other similar tools without appropriate disclosure or citation is not considered students’ own intellectual work.
Alverno College provides support for students’ development as writers, including no-cost writing-focused courses that can be taken by any enrolled student. EdD students and dissertation advisors should be cautious of outside, for-profit services purporting to provide dissertation “coaching” or “mentoring” with the goal of completing the dissertation more speedily. While some students may seek outside editing support when finishing their dissertations, this support must be limited to APA formatting, citation congruence between the text and resources, and review for spelling and grammar. Outside writing support may not provide substantive feedback, content suggestions, or direct editing of the work. The dissertation advisor and dissertation committee are the only people who should be providing substantive feedback and guidance for a student’s dissertation, which must be written entirely by the student. If an advisor or program leadership become aware that a student’s work is not entirely their own, they may be the subject of an investigation into potential academic misconduct, which could result in recommendations for or considerations of sanctions, changes in academic status/ probation with warning, or program dismissal. Any outside committee members must have their CV on file with the doctoral program so that Alverno can ensure that we are maintaining high standards for academic work and engage in supporting all advisors and students in meeting those standards.
Academic misconduct refers to any act(s) in which: a) a student seeks to claim credit for work conducted or authored by another individual as their own without approval or appropriate citation; b) a student fabricates or falsifies data or information or academic records of any kind; c) a student falsely represents her performance on academic work; and/or d) assists other students with any of these acts. Alverno College, through its courses and policies, will work to help students understand academic misconduct and the potential implications for engaging in any such acts. However, it is the responsibility of the student to know and understand these definitions and potential consequences as it pertains to academic misconduct in all of their courses.
The Academic Misconduct process at Alverno is structured as an educational process, building in wherever possible elements of restorative justice (focusing on a repair of harm) so as to align the disciplinary process with the Mission and Values of the institution. A faculty member who believes a student has committed academic misconduct should consider ways in which a student can be educated and informed about the harm committed, and ought to consider ways wherever appropriate in which the student can be involved in creating a restorative approach to harm done through the misconduct. This restorative, educational approach may also carry additional sanctions as determined appropriate. These sanctions may include: a) verbal and/or written reprimand; b) failure of an assignment; and/or c) failure of a course. In extreme or repeated cases, sanction may result in a student being removed from a program of study and/or dismissed from the College. If a faculty member believes a student may have engaged in academic misconduct, the faculty member must first discuss the matter with the student. The faculty member should provide the student with a copy of the academic misconduct and appeals process as part of this discussion. After the alleged misconduct has been discussed with the student, if the instructor concludes that misconduct occurred, the instructor may impose an appropriate sanction that might include: a letter of reprimand that will be copied to the student’s academic file; a repeat or replacement assignment; and/or an unsatisfactory designation for, and removal from, the course. The faculty member must inform the student in writing of the decision and sanction, reminding the student of their rights and the appeal process. Any or all sanctions applied can be appealed by the student. Students can initiate the appeal process by contacting the Office of Academic Affairs.
Students wishing to appeal a progress code or academic status decision must complete the official College appeals process, available on the Alverno College website.
In the final semester of the program, students will receive guidance from the Alverno College Registrar and Dean of Students Office related to the Commencement celebration, doctoral regalia, final residency, process, requirements, and travel arrangements.
The dissertation proposal presentation should include the following elements.
A replicable presentation deck that may be used for students’ dissertation defense presentations is available online.
(Note: Each level incorporates the previous one(s).)
In a given piece of writing, the student should show the following abilities to the level indicated:
Connects with audience through ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING CONTEXT (clarifying, in a manner appropriate to a specified audience, limits of the situation and sources of thinking)
L1 Gives audience some sense of focus and purpose (What I am telling whom and why?)
L2 Throughout the writing, provides and maintains a sense of focus and purpose
L3 Takes responsibility for own ideas and distinguishes them from those of others
L4 Clearly articulates relationships between ideas/concepts out of an academic framework/theory and those out of her own thinking
Graduate Level: As a professional, Shows explicit awareness of one’s own ideas as claims rather than truths in the context of disciplinary/professional discourse / Where appropriate: Shows awareness of historical precedent
L1 Uses language that shows some awareness of appropriate style/tone and varied word choice
L2 Uses language that shows general awareness of appropriate style/tone and varied word choice — avoiding vague, empty, and condescending expression
L3 Uses language that shows consistent awareness of appropriate style/tone and varied word choice
L4 Uses language that reflects a refined awareness of the audience
Graduate Level: As a professional, Effectively incorporates word choice/style/tone unique to a particular discipline or profession / Shows explicit awareness of ambiguity, e.g., that words/concepts may have different meanings for different audiences / Maintains the individuality of the writer / Communicates a sense of ongoing dialogue, common ground, and openness to other perspectives
L1 Generally follows appropriate conventions
L2 Consistently follows appropriate conventions
L3 Applies appropriate conventions to the expression of complex relationships
L4 Shows a refined sense of appropriate conventions
Graduate Level: As a professional, meets the stylistic requirements of a given discipline or profession
L1 Presents a message with recognizable introduction, development, and conclusion
L2 Establishes and maintains focus on a clear purpose, providing transitions to clarify relationships between most points of development
L3 Without digression from the focus of the work, consistently articulates relationships
between points of development
L4 Maintains a refined sense of structure appropriate to disciplinary and/or professional
contexts
Graduate Level: As a professional, maintains a refined sense of structure in relation to an academic framework integrated into that of a profession
L1 Shows ability to use examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L2 Supports most generalizations with examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L3 Consistently develops ideas through appropriate use of generalizations, examples, and/or evidence
L4 Develops ideas with appropriate depth, variety, and sufficient interest to engage audience
Graduate Level: As a professional,Explicitly acknowledges contradictory or conflicting evidence when relevant / Relates any of own relevant work that she/he has done
L1 Articulates ideas accurately
L2 Demonstrates appropriate application of designated or selected ideas
L3 Identifies key elements that indicate understanding of frameworks/theories
L4 Articulates original applications, syntheses, and/or evaluations of academic frameworks/ theories, validating them with substantiated thinking and appropriately using valid sources
Graduate Level: As a professional, Effectively integrates academic frameworks/theories into the context of the profession / Thoughtfully challenges existing frameworks and/or approaches
In a given speech, the student should show the following abilities to the level indicated: Preliminary: Follows directions: yes ___ no ___
Connects with audience through SPEAKING ON ONE’S FEET
L1 Speaks to an audience for at least a minute with little reliance on scripted or memorized input
L2 Communicates to an audience, long enough to suggest the speaker has internalized his/her message, with little reliance on scripted or memorized input
L3 Communicates with the audience, giving the impression of both thinking and speaking spontaneously without reliance on scripted or memorized input
L4 Gives a consistent impression of communicating with the audience without reliance on scripted or memorized input
Graduate Level: As a professional, gives a consistent impression of communicating with the audience without reliance on scripted or memorized input in a variety of job related contexts.
L4 Clearly articulates relationships between ideas/concepts out of an academic Framework/theory and those out of his/her own thinking
Graduate Level: As a professional,
Shows explicit awareness of one’s own ideas as claims rather than truths in the context of disciplinary/professional discourse.
Where appropriate, shows awareness of historical precedent
L1 Uses language that shows some awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone
L2 Uses language that shows general awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone— avoiding vague, empty, and condescending expression
L3 Uses language that consistently shows awareness of appropriate word choice/style/tone
L4 Uses language that reflects a refined awareness of the audience
Graduate Level: As a professional,
Effectively incorporates word choice/style/tone unique to a particular discipline or profession
Shows explicit awareness of ambiguity, e.g., that words/concepts may have different meanings for different audiences
Maintains the individuality of the speaker
Communicates a sense of ongoing dialogue, common ground, and openness to other perspectives
L1 Speaks with some elements of effective delivery
L2 Speaks with most elements of effective delivery
L3 Speaks consistently with elements of effective delivery
L4 Speaks with a refined repertory of effective delivery techniques
Graduate Level: As a professional, meets the delivery requirements of a given discipline
or profession
L1 Generally follows appropriate conventions
L2 Consistently follows appropriate conventions
L3 Adapts appropriate conventions to the expression of complex relationships
L4 Shows a refined sense of appropriate conventions
Graduate Level: As a professional, meets the stylistic requirements of a given discipline or profession
L1 Presents a message with recognizable introduction, development, and conclusion
L2 Establishes and maintains focus on a clear purpose, providing transitions to clarify relationships between most points of development
L3 Without digression from the focus of the speech, consistently articulates relationships between points of development
L4 Maintains a refined sense of structure in relation to an academic framework
Graduate Level: As a professional, maintains a refined sense of structure in relation to an academic framework integrated into that of a profession
L1 Shows ability to use examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L2 Supports most generalizations with examples and/or evidence meaningful to audience
L3 Consistently develops ideas through appropriate use of generalizations, examples, and/or evidence
L4 Develops ideas with appropriate depth, variety and sufficient interest to engage audience
Graduate Level: As a professional, explicitly acknowledges contradictory or conflicting evidence
L1 Incorporates a visual that is legible, understandable, and appropriate to topic and audience
L2 Computer-generates eye-appealing visuals, using them purposefully to enhance presentation
L3 Smoothly incorporates high-quality and diverse media whose messages reflect the core concepts of a presentation
L4 Incorporates professional-quality media within a specific context to aid in clarifying academic frameworks
Graduate Level: As a professional, meets expectations for media quality for a given profession
L1 Articulates ideas accurately
L2 Demonstrates appropriate application of designated or selected ideas
L3 Identifies key elements that indicate understanding of frameworks/theories
L4 Articulates original applications, syntheses, and/or evaluations of academic frameworks/ theories, validating them with substantial thinking and appropriately using valid sources
Graduate Level: As a professional,
Effectively integrates academic frameworks/theories into the context of the profession • Thoughtfully challenges existing frameworks and/or approaches
L3 Articulates, providing evidence, a realistic sense of performance in all criteria areas
L4 Shows a refined sense of strengths and weaknesses in all criteria areas Graduate Level: As a professional,
Shows a refined sense of one’s own strengths and weaknesses in all criteria areas, particularly in professional contexts
Identifies reasonable plans for improvement related to one’s own areas of weakness
Shows explicit awareness of the development of one’s own understanding of one’s own mental models