November 27, 2018 | UHCL Staff
There’s a reason why Antonio Corrales is such a strong supporter of University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Doctorate in Educational Leadership program. He graduated from the program himself in 2015, and is now an assistant professor of educational leadership and its program director. He’s especially happy, he says, because the doctoral program will offer its second doctoral cohort at University of Houston-Clear Lake Pearland Campus beginning in fall 2019.
“We are still offering the program at UH-Clear Lake main campus, but the central location of the UHCL Pearland Campus offers more access to people in the Greater Houston metro area,” Corrales said. “I love this program because I have experienced it all myself. There are nine specializations within the program, and I believe that offering it at the Pearland campus will serve the students well.”
There are some recent changes to the program, Corrales said. “It’s now offered in a hybrid model, with half the classes in an eight-week, face-to-face setting and the second eight weeks online, where students complete assignments and work in groups,” he said. “The flexibility is there, during the face-to-face time, students still have that opportunity to network. You don’t know, you might be sitting with a future superintendent or principal.”
Corrales said that unlike many similar doctoral programs, at UHCL students are encouraged to begin their dissertation immediately. “We give our students the opportunity to present their research at different venues, such as the American Educational Research Association conference, which is among the biggest in the world,” he said. “Over 12,000 people apply to present at AERA, and only 10 percent are selected. I have already had two former students to be accepted to present their research at this conference.”
A big change in the overall program, Corrales said, is the elimination of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) as a requisite for admission to the program. “Students can take it, but it’s not required,” he said. “They can take UHCL’s internal writing assessment examination. It’s faster, cheaper and easier than taking the GRE, which has a lot of sections that the admissions committee did not need. Math results are not pertinent to this program, only writing, so this is a big incentive for students and we’ve had a lot of applicants.”
Corrales said that future instructional leaders, principals or superintendents, leaders in curriculum, educational consultants, college professors and administrators will find that their career options will significantly widen when they have a doctorate. “It doesn’t matter which specialization you choose, what’s important is that the program you are in is widely respected in the academic world,” he said. “We know that a doctorate from UHCL is highly valued by employers because our alumni have such a strong representation in leadership positions across school districts and universities in Texas and beyond. The numbers speak for themselves.”
Pasadena Independent School District is among the largest in the Houston metro area, said Corrales. “Most of their top administration team are UHCL alumni. That’s just one example of the impact our alumni are making in the field of education.”
For more information about UHCL’s Educational Leadership doctoral program, visit www.uhcl.edu/academics/degrees/educational-leadership-edd
