& Student Handbook - Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

132 Master Degree Programs
Master of Arts in
Educational Leadership
Meaningful and sustainable change is dependent upon strong
leadership. The Master of Arts in Educational Leadership program at
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is designed to prepare
educational professionals to become effective leaders and
administrators in organizational training and development, higher
education, and/or K-12 education. This degree provides a strong
foundation in leadership, management, and supervisory practice;
educational strategies for learners of all ages; communication,
creativity, and personal coaching skills; today’s diversity issues; and
current trends in ethics and law. Students develop strategies for
becoming effective change agents within an organization.
This degree opens career opportunities in:
1. Higher education administration;
2 Administration in private, parochial, and charter schools;
3 Dean of students, administrative intern, team leader, or athletic
director and;
4 Organizational trainers and developers or chief learning officers.
Program Outcomes
Graduates of the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership are expected
to be able to do the following:
1. Innovative Leadership: Provide educational leadership through the
use of leadership principles and technology applicable to educational
organizations.
2. Communication and Collaboration: Communicate effectively to
facilitate professional learning communities.
3. Curriculum and Instruction: Evaluate and design curriculum and
instruction to ensure and enhance the growth of all learners,
especially adults.
4. Today’s Diversity: Foster cultural competency by leveraging diversity
to ensure growth of the educational organization.
5. Management: Manage a safe and effective learning environment
utilizing creative supervisory principles and research-based
management styles.
6. The Ethical Leader and the Law: Embrace ethical values to act with
responsibility and accountability.
7. Assessment: Assess educational effectiveness by utilizing datadriven
practices and technological strategies.
8. Educational Research: Examine ways to improve education through
quality data collection and analysis.
Program Structure
The Master of Arts in Educational Leadership program consists of 33
semester credits. Thirty are required credits and the remaining three
credits are elective. Students may transfer up to six graduate semester
credits from regionally accredited institutions of higher education if the
credits were earned during the 10 years before admission, are
administrative in nature, have been approved by the program director
and the dean, and have not been used as part of another degree
program. After acceptance into the program all courses must be taken
from Saint Mary’s University.
Prior to graduation, each student is required to complete an action
research study, write a summary paper of the research, and provide a
presentation of the study to a panel of program members. The action
research project provides students an opportunity to substantiate their
academic work and demonstrate how they have integrated their
coursework into their professional life.
Degree Requirements
Core Requirements ...........................................................................30 cr.
Elective credits ....................................................................................3 cr.
Total..................................................................................................33 cr.
Core Requirements: 30 cr.
EL600 Orientation and Writing Assessment........................................0 cr.
Administration:
EL603 Foundations of Educational Leadership...................................3 cr.
EL613 Fundamentals of Management ................................................3 cr.
EL622 Supervision ..............................................................................2 cr.
EL633 Ethics and Law.........................................................................3 cr.
Coaching and Teambuilding:
EL602 Facilitation Through Communication........................................2 cr.
EL612 Coaching and Team Building ...................................................2 cr.
EL623 Curriculum and Instruction.......................................................3 cr.
EL652 Adult Learning..........................................................................2 cr.
9. Developing Self and Others: Empower and nurture employees through
effective staff development principles and adult learning theories.