The professional doctorate in technology leadership, research & innovation

Abstract

Expertise demands engendered by the convergence of pressure for increased competitiveness and the accelerating advance of technology have become obvious to leaders in technology-centric business and industry. Because the Polytechnic's faculty maintain active engagement with such business and corporate leaders and their enterprises, they also recognized signals which evidenced that there were responsible personnel in the private sector who would benefit from, and actually want, an advanced technology-oriented degree above the master's level. But, the faculty also noted that because of the career development stage and responsibilities of these personnel, they were not likely to be willing, or able, to pursue a traditional university Ph.D. A thought-leading team of Polytechnic faculty from diverse departments was assembled to research and conceptualize what such a degree might look like and how it might be best delivered. The team launched two parallel research efforts, one to ascertain what precedents and experiences with similar goals existed around the world, i.e., an international review of other doctoral programs addressing similar needs, and the second was to conduct an interest and needs assessment of a sample of high probability individuals. The findings of both studies were positive, and their key features incorporated in this paper. This paper describes the outcomes of a successful program development and approval process and the planned phasing of its implementation. The development team treated the existing program approval mechanisms, as found in most universities and states, as a stagedgate approval process. This necessitated the development of (1) a conceptual proposal, (2) a competitive analysis, (3) a detailed program plan, (4) an implementation plan, and (5) a formal proposal with supporting data as required by the state coordinating body for higher education. The program that evolved from this process was an industry-facing, distance/on-campushybrid professional doctoral program permitting extensive tailoring of the learning experiences. This enables enrollees to address a need/problem/issue specific to their enterprise while simultaneously accomplishing and advancing along on one or more of the program's key competency vectors. This paper provides an overview of the initial set of program competencies and describes their intended use for candidate assessment (both self and by program faculty). Competency components and scaffolding for building expertise as candidates progress to earn their degrees are also described. In addition to the description of the actual doctoral program, this paper will also share the support mechanisms necessary to deploy such a program in a doctoral extensive land grant university. Specifically highlighted will be the role of a dedicated business unit designed to streamline typical university bureaucracy in order to provide responsiveness and services consistent with the expectations of a competitive private sector world. Finally, this paper concludes with an overview of the program's next steps and the sharing of a set of collegial questions directed to other institutions interested in addressing similar needs.