1. Alisa Belzer
Rutgers University
How to be a Change Agent at Home

2. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Where we started out
• 11 separate EdD programs
• Long time to completion and students
getting lost in the shuffle, inconsistent
advisement
• Not distinguished from PhD
• No consideration of impact

3. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Where we got to
• 1 School-wide interdisciplinary program with 4
concentrations
• Accelerated time to completion
• Cohort Model
• Coherent and consistent program experience
• Very clearly distinctive from our PhD program;
students specifically choose it for what it offers
• Students having significant impact in their
workplaces

4. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Initiating Change
• Information gathering and Information Sharing (student focus
groups, used CPED Resources)
• Retreats/Design Days
• Design Teams (interdisciplinary work groups)
• 3 year process, started out slowly. CPED was a huge boost!

5. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
What we had to get done during this phase
• Draw on data to make the case for change
• Decide on what the concentrations would be
• Decide on what the core would consist of
• Decide on what the balance would be
• Decide on specific courses for each
• Design recruitment materials and establish recruitment plan
• Develop admissions procedures

6. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Major points of contention
•Change not needed; belief that the program was effective
despite evidence to the contrary
•Research sequence
•Balance of core to concentration
•What a dissertation would look like
•Number of credits that could transfer in
•Centralization
•Year round program necessary for acceleration; alternative
scheduling

7. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Implementing Change
• Launched program and accepted first cohort in 2010

8. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
What we needed to get done
• Create operating systems (guiding principles, bylaws and a
decision making body)
• Set up new operational systems for keeping track of things
(transfer decisions, communications, registration, scheduling)
• Course design, approval, course numbers, recruit faculty, etc.
• Backward mapping from program goals and skills needed to
courses
• Constant communication with faculty

9. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Major points of contention
• Value of the degree
• Length of time of the program
• Defining what counts as a dissertation

10. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Institutionalizing Change
• Our fifth cohort just began
• Our first cohort has mostly graduated
• More faculty are involved

11. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
What we need to get done
• Ongoing evaluation
• Responding to indicators of need for improvement (ongoing
program improvement)
• Documenting impact inside the building and in the field
• Building network
• Continuing to build systems (e.g.advisement, qualifying
process issues, EdS)

12. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Major points of contention
• Avoiding slippage
• Length of the program
• Quality of work

13. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Lessons Learned
• Make compromises to gain consensus/buy in
• Find balance academic freedom with program coherence and
consistency
• Know that with time, more people may get on board if options are
reduced
• Work has to be ongoing to enact the goals and to keep on track as
more people get involved
• Must keep “selling” the program to the faculty
• Letting faculty know about program and student accomplishments is
important for buy in
• Use data to inform process (design, evaluation, and making the
case)
• Have a clear time frame
• Get the Dean on board
• Use CPED convenings, web page, publications, colleagues

14. Graduate School of Education
Graduate School of Education
Lessons Learned (cont.)
• Keep focused on causes of resistance; be empathetic
• Must keep “selling” the program to the faculty
• Letting faculty know about program and student
accomplishments is important for buy in
• Use data to inform process (design, evaluation, and making
the case)
• Have a clear time frame
• Get the Dean on board
• Use CPED convenings, web page, publications, colleagues