Students work closely with faculty advisors to shape an interdisciplinary academic program that guides students to explore the nature of transformation in the professions, business, education, public service, and the liberal arts, and leads them to undertake an original doctoral dissertation grounded in the discovery, dissemination and application of knowledge. All students take a common Leadership Core, and select Foundational Core electives and internships.
Leadership Core (27 credits)
Mastering and Guiding the Process of Change
Collaborative Leadership
Transforming the Public Agenda
Social Critiques
Transforming Communities through Applied Research
Transformation through the Arts
Leadership and the Creative Imagination
Leadership through Writing
Doctoral Seminar: Research Methods, Data Collection and Analysis
Foundational Content (21 credits)
Students choose five of these electives:
Program Assessment and Evaluation
Scenario Planning and Game Theory
Managing Financial and Human Resources
Organizational Health
Law, Ethics and Decision-Making
Policy Analysis and Organizational Change
Arts and Learning
Cross-Cultural Communications for a New World
Legal and Ethical Issues in Policy Making
Organizational Planning
Presidential Leadership
Human Resource Management: Appreciative Inquiry
Independent Study
Internships (6 credits)
Students complete two professional internships
Internship I
Internship II
Dissertation (12 credits)
Comprehensive Examination and Dissertation Proposal
Problem Development, Research Methods and Data Collection
Data Collection and Analysis
Dissertation Completion and Defense
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Transformational Leadership Core
TL 605 Collaborative Leadership (3 credits)
This course is designed to provide an in-depth examination of theory and critical skills necessary for collaboration in all settings. The course will emphasize the exploration of major concepts related to leadership with an emphasis on developing partnerships and collaborative relationships. Themes of collaborative leadership identified during this course will frame the focus of course work.
TL 610 Legal and Ethical Issues in Policy Making (3 credits)
This course emphasizes the moral and social responsibilities of organizational leaders as well as the practical application of ethical principles to organizational leadership behavior and decision-making. Stakeholders in society use the law as a tool toward social change. In policy development, the codification of rules and laws demonstrate a failure of the political system to meet the expectations of some constituency. Although Social institutions must deal with the legal and political environment in which it exists, policy development allows for an opportunity to present ethical concerns in a matter that allows for open evaluation. Therefore, while behaving as civil members of a community, social institutions must manage themselves so as to advocate for positive change.
TL 615 Transforming the Public Agenda (3 credits)
This course focuses on the development of a self-renewing capability inherent in professionals and organizations. The notion of transformation in the context of knowledge base, self-reflection and the sociopolitical processes in social change will be discussed. The course will explore the integration of "ecological perspectives" within a changing society and the demand for greater tolerance of human behavior within an environment where marginalization and relative poverty continue to exist. A primary focus of the course is the need to keep justice and moral decision-making at the core of changing public ideology toward a higher appreciation of consequences of individual actions within a global context.
TL 620 Organizational Planning (3 credits)
The goal of this course is to familiarize students with major conceptual frameworks, debates, and developments in contemporary organization theory. This is an inter-disciplinary domain of inquiry drawing from sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology, and political science. The course focuses on inter-organizational processes, and also addresses the economic, institutional and cultural contexts that organizations face. The course makes use of a vast and multifaceted domain of inquiry and a wide variety of planning strategies.
TL 625 Social Critiques (3 credits)
This course focuses on the identification of particular social issues as a basis for analysis within the various frames offered throughout the course and provides a forum that brings experience and current methodology together to address social movements or trends that relate to the specific interest of the individual. Examination of various social philosophies will serve as a point of departure for analyzing social movements with an intent to inform policy in a "frame-reflective" (Rein and Schön) manner. Social critique suggests that policy is not always based in rational-deductive methodology but is highly influenced by the frames of analysis, which are used to understand social movements and problems.
TL 630 Transforming Communities through Applied Research (3 credits)
This course presents an overview of the process and application of developing, implementing and evaluating qualitative research. The student will conduct a descriptive analysis of initiating the inquiry, gathering data, recording and analyzing data and evaluating the project. There will be an emphasis on the literature of value driven research. Connections are made to organizational and community development and policy decision making across disciplines.
Content Core
TL 705 Transformation through the Arts (3 credits)
This course focuses on the act of creation which enables individuals to understand themselves and their world in new and diverse ways. This transformational creative experience has the power to give pleasure and communicate ideas, as well as to foster the cultural and artistic development of the individual and society. Emphasis is on the investigation of how the arts deepen life experiences, allowing the individual to face life's joys and challenges with a unique perspective. Through personal experience, dialogue with colleagues and selected readings and projects, the course will encourage the exploration of the nature of this transformation and the power and purpose of the arts in one's personal and professional life.
TL 710 Doctoral Seminar: Research Methods, Data Collection And Analysis (3 credits)
This course is an examination of various methods of social inquiry and analysis. The course presupposes that all participants have graduate level preparation in inquiry skills and analysis and a foundation in contemporary social critique. Although there will be a common focus for participation, each individual will examine those particular methods that will become the basis for the dissertation. All doctoral students are expected to either have a defined research question for advanced inquiry or be in the process of refining this question.
TL 715 Leadership and the Creative Imagination (3 credits)
This is a doctoral seminar in which addresses the issue of the role of creativity in developing and nurturing leadership in one's self and others. Leaders in literature, the arts, business, education and public service will be explored through biographies, films, plays, observations, writings and productions. Leaders in fiction will also be studied in order to further understand the virtues of leadership.
Policy and Law Concentration
AP 720 Managing Financial and Human Resources (3 credits)
Superior leaders appreciate the conversion of ideas into action and consequence. Superior leaders recognize that power is needed to drive this conversion and find it in research, service, and resources such as finance. These leaders can then use a medium such as the arts to carry the transformation from idea to action; this transformation can be fueled by the power of finance. The activities of finance are based on beliefs, values, and concern for all stakeholders whether they be company stockholders, employees, consumers, or members of the community.
AP 725 Law, Ethics and Decision-Making (3 credits)
This course explores how the United States' legal system deals with ethical ambiguity and ethical questions which are highly debated in our society. It poses the challenge to analyze major cases concerning administrative practices such as affirmative action, privacy, and professional conduct, and basic moral issues such as abortion, care of children, and the right to die in specific cultural environments and organizations. The course focuses on the evaluation of decisions and the assessment of various approaches to fundamental ethical dilemmas and debates and the impact of law contemporary society.
AP 730 Program Assessment and Evaluation (3 credits)
This course explores the theories and methods of planning, implementing and evaluating programs and interventions in order to assist individuals and groups to meet the needs and goals of the organization. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to evaluate both the need for and the outcomes of programs.
2 Electives: Choose courses from those NOT required by your concentration (6 credits)
Organizational Change Concentration
AP 735 Policy Analysis and Organizational Change (3 credits)
This course is set in the context of a belief that all institutions exist within increasingly complex and entrepreneurial environments. The public's need for choice, quality, and accountability are forces which have given rise to a complex system of federal, state, and local policies as well as a variety of non-traditional organizations to meet the needs of society. Effective leaders must function as entrepreneurs, policy administrators and community organizers for their organization to be responsive to this dynamic environment. The course challenges effective leaders to be participants, leaders, and agents of change in a range of organizations including traditional, charter, and private schools, non-profit organizations, businesses, colleges and universities, and human service and governmental agencies.
AP 740 Mastering and Guiding the Process of Change (3 credits)
This course is designed to enable current or emerging leaders to become more informed, effective and responsible in the political arena. The course is designed to engage in an in depth study of symbolic politics and the consequent impact upon public policy and the complex web of political relationships. Particular attention is given to the consequent implications for the change process within organizations and communities.
AP 745 Scenario Planning and Game Theory (3 credits)
This doctoral seminar examines two interrelated sets of tools for economic and organizational strategy building, scenario planning and game theory. Scenario planning is a methodology to increase our understanding of an uncertain future. A scenario planner creates a number of plausible stories about the future rather than merely extrapolating past trends forward. Game theory is the investigation of strategic behavior in the context of interdependent action. For example: an organization's strategic plans may be thwarted if its competitors respond in kind. Scenario planning and game theory used together form a powerful tool for planning and management.
AP 730 Program Assessment and Evaluation (3 credits)
This course explores the theories and methods of planning, implementing and evaluating programs and interventions in order to assist individuals and groups to meet the needs and goals of the organization. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to evaluate both the need for and the outcomes of programs.
1 Elective: Choose course from those NOT required by your concentration (3 credits)
Interdisciplinary Studies Concentration
ID 755 Independent Study (3-6 credits)
This independent study offers an opportunity to study in an interdisciplinary area not offered through Franklin Pierce College, but offered at the post master's level at Plymouth State University. The topic of an Independent Study must be approved by the faculty advisor and must meet with the approval of the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies of Franklin Pierce University.
ID 765 Cross-Cultural Communications for a New World (3 credits)
This seminar provides a framework for developing the interpersonal communication and interaction skills necessary for a more valuable engagement of global knowledge and experience. Students learn to identify cultural aspects of verbal and nonverbal behavior of persons from different cultures, and gain a deeper understanding of the cultural differences that cause difficulties in global communication. The course utilizes cross-cultural communication case studies, readings and interviews to explore the issues related to specific cultural differences. The course also emphasizes the importance of negotiating positions on a variety of on-going international issues through role-playing, interviews and public forums.
ID 770 Arts and Learning (3 credits)
This course is designed to provide students with the arts leadership skills necessary for designing, implementing, assessing, and sustaining arts integration models in diverse school or organizational settings. The course focuses on the multiple roles of the arts as mediational tools and provides theoretical and applied knowledge of learning in, with, and through the arts. Within the course there is an emphasis on the use of the arts and artistic methods through hands-on activities modeling arts, infused learning, and instruction. Content from the course is applied, analyzed, and evaluated in relation to individual and group understandings and considerations of site-specific organizational change and professional development.
ID 775 Leadership through Writing (3 credits)
This course is an intensive program designed to prepare students to assume a leadership position in and through writing. This content will be applied, analyzed and evaluated in a variety of organizational contexts. The course requires a commitment to reflection through writing and an understanding of the power of the written word in communication and influence.
Transformational Leadership
TL 850 Internship (3 credits)
Doctoral students can take advantage of a variety of opportunities for professional development within the educational plan. Internships allow students to explore and gain experience outside the higher education environment. The doctoral student must design, in advance, a pilot research project/question that will be investigated within the context of the internship. The internship plan must be approved by the faculty member before the internship starts. The internship course is taken twice.
TL 900 Dissertation (12 credits)
The dissertation is a substantial work of independent original research which makes a contribution to the current body of knowledge in a scholarly field. Through the coursework in this doctoral program the doctoral candidate establishes the boundaries of the current body of knowledge in a particular theoretical area of interest. Under the guidance of both the Mentor and Faculty Advisor, the candidate establishes a researchable question, proposes a methodology and gains approval of the doctoral committee to move forward with the study. The dissertation may be presented in a traditional bound dissertation, as publishable research reports or as a creative work supplemented by a research report suitable for publication.
