Ph.D in Leadership

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY - Ph.D. in Leadership

Purpose:

The purpose of this degree program is to provide an opportunity for the student on a post-graduate level to achieve primacy in discipline of ministry and leadership, through original research and creative work in that area of ministry as demonstrated by a completed doctoral dissertation.

Nature of the Program
The Doctor of Philosophy degree is a 54 credit program beyond a masters which combines 27 credits in core courses, 9 credits in Special Topics, 4 credits in guided readings and a 14 credit Dissertation of 100 pages minimum, using the approved style of writing a five chapter dissertation.

This research degree has a primary emphasis of leadership in research within various areas of ministry. Each step of the doctorate is supervised by faculty mentors, one chosen by the student to serve as a reader and one by the University, who will serve as chairman of the committee.

Admission:

For admission to the program the candidate must have a Masters degree in an appropriate discipline. A complete transcript of previous academic work is to be submitted before an application can be acted upon. These transcripts will be evaluated in terms of the entrance and graduation requirements of Vision International of with due allowances for equivalencies.

Program Description
The program is divided into four components:

1. Core Courses (27 semester hours)
2. Special Topics (9 semester hours)
3. Guided Reading (4 semester hours)
4. Doctoral Dissertation (14 semester hours)
5. Proposal (2 semester hours)
6. Dissertation (12 semester hours)

Component One - Core Courses (27 Hours)

A 25 page paper is to be written on each of the 5 core courses covering the topic thoroughly. Each core course is worth three (3) credits.

The Doctoral student must submit a Bibliography of the books used for the core course papers. There is no limit on the number of pages for the core courses.

Component Two – Special Topics (9 Hours)

The doctoral student will select three special topics from the list below. A 25 page paper is to be written on each of the 3 special topics courses covering the topic thoroughly. Each special topics course is worth three (3) credits.

Component Three - Guided Readings (4 Hours)

Guided Readings are to reflect an area of research which is directed toward the writing of the doctoral project. The student is to choose a minimum of twenty-five (25) sizable works, approved by the Doctoral Committee, to read and write on. There is no minimum or maximum amount of words to be written, but the writings must be comprehensive enough to cover the topic. This primarily constitutes Chapter 2 of the doctoral project. The completed Guided Readings are a part of the doctoral project and leads toward candidacy status.

Component Four – Doctoral Dissertation (14 Hours)

Doctoral Proposal

The student is to then write a proposal for the Doctorate, describing the project according to the prescribed format. The completed proposal is to be approved by the Doctoral Committee. The process and format for a Doctoral Proposal is described in “Research Writhing Made Easy” and the paper titled “Steps to Completing Your Doctoral Project/Dissertation”.

Doctoral Dissertation

The student is then (upon approval of the proposal) to begin writing their Doctoral Project, according to the specific format. The Doctoral Project is the finishing work for the Doctoral degree, and is what provides the right to be called Doctor. It is worth 16 credits towards the degree program. The guidelines for the writing of the Project are again found in the book “Research Writing Made Easy”, and with the help of your doctoral project coordinator, you will be able to complete your goal.

Doctoral Handbook

Each doctoral student will be given a doctoral handbook that will walk them step by step through the doctoral program.