Eighty-six of the more than 300 graduates who will receive diplomas during the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Summer Commencement ceremony on Friday have earned a master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree.
That almost doubles the 42 master小蝌蚪APP檚 degrees conferred last summer. The increase is thanks, in large part, to the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 educational leadership master小蝌蚪APP檚 program.
Thirty-nine students who enrolled in the six-semester program in Fall 2015 will get their degrees. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in the Cajundome Convention Center adjacent to the Cajundome.
The educational leadership master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree is geared toward elementary and secondary teachers interested in leadership roles, such as principal, assistant principal, or other positions in school systems.
The program provides students with in-depth knowledge about a range of topics, from legal and ethical issues to community engagement to using data to effect change.
Dr. Nathan Roberts, dean of the College of Education, said the master小蝌蚪APP檚 in educational leadership program is graduating more students for a couple of reasons.
One is outreach efforts. Representatives of the College of Education contact school districts, which recommend teachers who would make good candidates for the program. 小蝌蚪APP faculty members travel to school districts across the state to teach some of the program小蝌蚪APP檚 courses.
Another is the addition of an online component to the program, which was approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents in Fall 2015. It enables students to receive a mix of online instruction and face-to face interaction with faculty, during three-hour courses taught on campus once a week.
小蝌蚪APP淭he efforts by faculty are starting to pay off,小蝌蚪APP Roberts explained. 小蝌蚪APP淣ow, instead of graduating 10 or 11 students, we小蝌蚪APP檙e starting to see several times that amount.小蝌蚪APP
Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser, dean of the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Graduate School, said this summer小蝌蚪APP檚 large number of educational leadership master小蝌蚪APP檚 graduates underscores a growing trend in many industries and careers.
小蝌蚪APP淎 master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree is becoming essential, in many cases, not only for advancement, but to land some entry-level positions. That小蝌蚪APP檚 a key reason we小蝌蚪APP檙e seeing continual overall increases in both enrollment and graduation numbers for master小蝌蚪APP檚 degrees,小蝌蚪APP she explained.