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September 23, 2002
Education offers new doctoral program
By Jennifer McNulty
Building on its strengths addressing the needs of a diverse population,
the UCSC Education Department will begin accepting graduate students
into a new doctoral program that begins in fall 2003.
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| Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood congratulates
Mirra Shernock this summer for completion of UCSC's combined master
of arts degree in education and a teaching credential. Photo:
Jennifer McNulty |
The Ph.D. in education was approved this summer by UC President Richard
Atkinson. The review committee cited UCSC's leadership in the needs
of K-12 students from nondominant linguistic and cultural groups.
The new program will offer three specializations: language and literacy;
mathematics and science education; and social context of education.
The program will offer a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on theories
of learning and teaching from anthropology, psychology, sociology, and
sociolinguistics.
"This new program rounds out our offerings and enables us to prepare
students for careers in all aspects of education, from classroom teaching
to administration and research," said Joyce Justus, chair of UCSC's
Education Department. The department offers undergraduates the opportunity
to minor in education; a 15-month combined master's and teaching credential;
and now the doctoral degree.
Initial enrollment of six to eight Ph.D. students will grow to 32 students
after four years, said Justus. Some candidates will likely be drawn
from the approximately 150 students in the master's in education program
currently offered by the department, she added.
The new Ph.D. program addresses a projected need for new doctorates
in the field of education, who will be competitive candidates for positions
in UC and Cal State University teacher education programs, other universities,
state and federal government policy offices, and educational research
centers. Within the UC system, 25 openings for education doctorates
are anticipated each year through 2010. Further analysis suggests that
approximately 100 new CSU tenure-track faculty hires in education will
be recent UC Ph.D.s by the year 2010.
Five other UC campuses offer a Ph.D. in education: Berkeley, Davis,
Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Barbara.
Justus and other Education Department faculty are also currently engaged
in talks with San Jose State University about developing an Education
Doctorate program. An Ed.D. program would fill a niche by preparing
students for positions of educational leadership, said Justus. The collaboration
responds to UC President Atkinson's eagerness to build bridges between
UC and CSU campuses.
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