Click the link to learn more about Ferris' Doctorate in Community College Leadership
program.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Twenty-two students will pursue their goals of becoming key administrators in higher education, as members of the first cohort pursuing Doctorate in Community College Leadership degrees from Ferris State University, at Lone Star College’s University Center campus in The Woodlands, Texas.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday, Jan. 12 at the LSC University Center, with Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Paul Blake leading Ferris’ contingent in attendance along with Steve Reifert, the university’s dean of Extended and International Operations; Roberta Teahen, associate provost and DCCL director; and members of her staff.
“We are pleased students in this first cohort, and Lone Star’s administrators, reviewed Ferris’ program and found the curriculum to be most relevant, capable of enhancing the skills they desire to be effective as leaders,” Teahen said. “The background of our faculty, which boasts many key contributors in community college leadership, was a significant element for many of the students who have chosen to join the program.”
Lone Star College is a multi-campus community college, established in 1972, to serve the Houston, Texas area. LSC boasts an enrollment of 95,000 students, with more than 85 percent of them in credit-based instruction. Alicia Harvey-Smith, Lone Star College’s executive vice chancellor, participated in the Jan. 12 ceremony, as she directs academic and student affairs for the institution. Harvey-Smith said LSC is excited about its new articulation and partnership with Ferris to offer this program.
“We anticipate this program will be an exemplar and will further expand access to educational opportunities to citizens throughout the Houston area and will allow members of the college community interested in graduate studies in community college leadership to pursue them close to home, from a noted educational leader,” Harvey-Smith said. “Establishing and sustaining strong external partnerships is a core value for Lone Star College, as we continually seek to establish innovative pathways to broad academic opportunities for our students and community. The new partnership with Ferris State University is an exciting representation of this commitment.”
The students in the inaugural Texas Cohort will be following six-and seven-credit semesters of instruction on a year-round basis, which will continue through the Fall 2020 semester. LSC-North Harris Faculty Senate President Bob Lynch, a professor of developmental English and journalism, is a member of the cohort.
“I was impressed by how down-to-earth the staff was, clearly making us feel wanted,” Lynch said. “The program is smart, covering what we need to know for community colleges, fitting it all into three years, not having to appear every weekend, working on the dissertation along the way and allowing four options. Having been born in Michigan sealed it for me, because it’s like coming home.”
Social Science Department Chair Yvonne Frear, from San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, is another higher education professional in the cohort who began classwork early in January.
“I chose Ferris State University and the DCCL program because of its national recognition and regional accreditation as an exemplary higher education leadership program,” Frear said. “I also appreciate the hands-on, impeccable support and commitment by the director and leader-practitioners.”
The instructional method is a hybrid, with online coursework augmented by cohort meetings
on LSC’s Woodlands University Center campus, in Houston, four to five times a year.
The cohort’s capstone activity will involve comprehensive interviews and presentations,
in October, prior to their participation in commencement, and receipt of their doctorates.
PHOTO CAPTION: Leaders from Lone Star College, in the Houston, Texas area, and Ferris
State University gathered in The Woodlands, Texas, Friday, Jan. 12 to commemorate
the inaugural Doctorate in Community College Leadership cohort at LSC’s University
Center campus. (Pictured, from left) LSC Executive Vice Chancellor Alicia Harvey-Smith,
Ferris DCCL Director Roberta Teahen, Ferris Provost and Vice President of Academic
Affairs Paul Blake, LSC Board Chair Alton Smith, LSC Vice Chancellor Helen Clougherty
and LSC trustee and Board Secretary Ken Lloyd participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.