The Professional Learner
Once admitted to an educational institution, you are referred to as “professional learners” rather than just students. This reflects your active, rather than passive, and competence-based approach to the educational process. You will participate in an intensely interactive process that is congruent with the professional marketplace. You will also engage in the discipline of individual study and reflection. Your program will feature opportunities to interact in: Online Forums, Residencies, and formal and informal workshops with your Faculty Advisors and other faculty members.
All professional learners are already established in their career with a foundation of knowledge and professional experience. As learning peers and professional colleagues, you will support each other to enhance the academic quality, experience and success-as-a-whole.
As professional learners, you will be engaged in self-directed learning with the guidance and support of your core faculty, advisors and other members of any doctoral committee. We consider self-directed learning to be a process where all individuals take initiative, with or without the help of others. This includes diagnosing learning needs, setting learning goals, identifying key resources, creating strategies and evaluating final learning outcomes.
You will demonstrate your ability and commitment to the educational process by presenting your findings in a dissertation of a professional project that demonstrates significant competence.