Educational Leadership, Certificate of Advanced Study

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The Post-Master’s Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership is designed to meet the needs of practicing educators, including teachers, principals, curriculum directors, and superintendents, who are interested in pursuing advanced academic work in educational change and leadership. The CAS requires thirty (30) credit hours of graduate coursework beyond the master’s degree and a three- to nine-credit capstone experience. Students engage in careful reading of research and scholarship, oral and written presentations, and applied projects. CAS students design their own plan of study in consultation with their CAS advisor. As a result of completing this program, students will have demonstrated: self-assessment and reflective practice tools, skills, and habits of mind; research design and methodological decision-making skills; advanced oral and written communication skills; knowledge of current scholarship in educational change and leadership; and capacity for connecting theory and practice in posing and solving educational problems.

Program Requirements

Program Requirements (30 credits)

Self-designed Concentration (21-27 credits)

Graduate coursework may be taken in any existing graduate program within the School of Education and Human Development or USM’s Muskie School of Public Service, School of Business, and College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science or from other institutions, upon approval of the faculty advisor.

Capstone Project (3-9 credits)

Two capstone options are available:

Option One

One of the following:

Option Two

EDU 665 - CAS Directed Study

Transfer Policies

Previously completed graduate courses may be approved for transfer into a graduate program within the educational leadership program if credits for the courses were earned no more than five years prior to matriculation, with grades of B or better. A syllabus for each course submitted for transfer credit must be provided upon application. Credits proposed for transfer may not have been used to qualify for a previously earned degree.