Doctor of Strategic Leadership - Multiple Capstone Options

Southeastern University

Graduation Requirements

• DSL students complete 54 hours of course work and 6 hours of major capstone project for a total of 60 credit hours
• 3.0 cumulative GPA for all courses with no more than two “C” grades
• Give at least one presentation at an academic or professional conference
• Submit at least one article in an academic or professional journal for publication
• Pass all questions on comprehensive exam, proctored on campus at SEU
• Capstone project

Project ideas include but are not limited to the following:

• Write a book. Complete a book manuscript and submit to a publisher on one or more of the topics studied in the program.
• Educational video or audio webinar. Design and conduct an extensive webinar on one or more of the topics studied in the program.
• Educational video or audio conference. Design and conduct an extensive conference workshop on one or more of the topics studied in the program.
• Organizational consulting project. This could be for an external organization or internally with a student’s current organization. It can include: diagnosing a problem or challenge through surveys and interviews, then conducting quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods analysis to recommend solutions.
• Design a new organization and business plan or major change initiative in an existing organization, incorporating concepts studied in the program.
• Dramatic presentation (play, movie, concert) on one or more of the topics studied in the program.
• Other creative ideas are welcome!

https://catalog.seu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=40&poid=8371&returnto=3169

 

Provided the end project has the research rigor expected of a doctorate, I see no reason it cannot take other forms, especially since this is a professional doctorate designed to advance practice, not scholarship (theory). Further, I think this should be preferred.

Union Institute and University's PhD program was designed around this concept. In fact, it wasn't called a dissertation; it was the Project Demonstrating Excellence. If your PDE took an alternative form, you still had to do the underlying research to support it. In hindsight, I do object to the PhD title since not all PDEs advanced scholarship. Mine didn't.

(Ironically, my doctorate from Leicester was, despite its alternative title, considered a scholarly degree equal to the PhD. You had to make a significant contribution to scholarship. I conducted original research resulting in a grounded theory about the Chief Learning Officer, making scholarly contributions to human resource development, executive leadership, and structuration theories.)

I hasten to mention that the above school, Southeastern University, is very verbose in its "Christianese." Also, you have to tell them about your faith in the application essay.

Also, 54 credits (excluding the capstone) seems excessive, especially given the rudimentary descriptions of many of the courses. I would rather see fewer of these "filler" courses and a larger, more comprehensive, and more impactful capstone project.

 

I've seen many post-master's PhD programs that are around 54 credits, including the dissertation, so this program could be a little shorter. Sixty credits seems to be within the normal range, though. In my opinion, almost all leadership programs are filled with repetitive fluff.

 

Been there, done that. I felt like a fraudster. Because while I am true to my Baptist faith, I am not super religious. In the end, I declined the Fall 2018 admissions offer to the Ed.D. program at Southeastern.

 

It’s not the number of credits; it’s what the credits are in. By the doctorate, the candidate should be (largely) outside the need for pedagogy. Yes, there can be a taught component, but this reads like a puffed-up MBA with a capstone attached. Now, I can’t discern the differences, if any, between their master’s and doctoral courses on similar subjects, but the subjects themselves worry me. I wrote a book on developing people into strategic leaders, and this ain’t that.

But the main thing that distinguishes the doctorate is the original research (scholarly or applied) that makes a significant and original contribution to the field. If the capstone truly does this, then the number of credits for it are too low and the number of credits on the taught portion are too high. If the capstone does not, then it is just an MBA program that got stung by a bee.

I would prefer, in a taught program, to see 18-18-18. That is, 18 credits of strategic leadership, 18 credits of research skills, and 18 credits for a doctoral project worthy of the degree.

 

It is a bit odd how they expect students to finish their projects in two semesters. But, if you're just writing a book or a play or filming an educational video, then it shouldn't take that long. LOL. To be fair, students have to attempt to publish an article and present at a conference in addition to the capstone project. However, they don't list any stipulations for the publications. So, it could potentially be a book review or a response to someone else's research article. If you go the publication route at Capitol Technology University, for comparison, they require that the three articles be accepted by a high-impact journal. You can't just submit fluff to some random professional journal.