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NU Starting First Doctoral Program

Friday, December 17, 2010

A new PhD program at Niagara University aims to prepare students to lead systemic change in underserved communities.

The college announced this week that it will begin offering a doctoral degree in leadership and policy next August. The program, part of Niagara’s College of Education, is designed to be completed in three years.

Debra Colley, dean of the College of Education, anticipates that students will come from the fields of education, human services, business and public and social policy. She expects both Ontario- and New York-based students to enroll.

Niagara’s president, The Rev. Joseph Levesque, said the new program falls in line with the university’s mission.

“As a Vincentian university, Niagara seeks to inspire its students to serve all members of society, especially the disadvantaged,” Levesque said in a release. “The leadership and policy PhD program focuses on this mission ... in bringing social justice and empowerment to those most in need to the forefront of research.”

The university hasn’t conferred PhDs since the late 1940s, Colley said. There are no firm plans right now for other doctoral programs.