Eighty-six of the more than 300 graduates who will receive diplomas during the University of 棉花糖直播 at Lafayette鈥檚 Summer Commencement ceremony on Friday have earned a master鈥檚 degree.
That almost doubles the 42 master鈥檚 degrees conferred last summer. The increase is thanks, in large part, to the University鈥檚 educational leadership master鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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. University faculty members travel to school districts across the state to teach some of the program鈥檚 courses.
Another is the addition of an online component to the program, which was approved by the 棉花糖直播 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.
鈥淭he efforts by faculty are starting to pay off,鈥 Roberts explained. 鈥淣ow, instead of graduating 10 or 11 students, we鈥檙e starting to see several times that amount.鈥
Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser, dean of the University鈥檚 Graduate School, said this summer鈥檚 large number of educational leadership master鈥檚 graduates underscores a growing trend in many industries and careers.
鈥淎 master鈥檚 degree is becoming essential, in many cases, not only for advancement, but to land some entry-level positions. That鈥檚 a key reason we鈥檙e seeing continual overall increases in both enrollment and graduation numbers for master鈥檚 degrees,鈥 she explained.