Campus Connection

Collaboration begins on Student Affairs Administration and Leadership degree to be offered at UWL in summer 2017.

Faculty members from UW-La Crosse and three other UW System schools started collaborating in early April to develop shared courses that will be part of a new educational doctorate degree in Student Affairs Administration and Leadership. The doctorate will be offered at UWL for the first time in summer 2017 — one of two doctorate degrees offered at UWL. The other is in physical therapy. “This is a unique feature of this educational doctorate for each school,” says Jodie Rindt, Student Affairs Administration department chair. “We are part of a cooperative, which is an agreement between the four programs. All of our students in all four programs will be in two foundational courses together.” UWL, UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point met Friday, April 8, in Stevens Point to begin development of the foundational courses. Faculty involved from the UWL SAA Department included: Chris Bakkum, Adele Lozano, Jodie Rindt and Tori Svoboda. The SAA program will begin accepting applications in fall 2016. The new doctorate prepares student affairs professionals for advanced positions of leadership in diverse institutions of higher education. It will be offered online only and is designed for people who already hold a master’s degree in student affairs or higher education and who have more than three years of professional experience in higher education. Program participants will be employed on college campuses and applying what they are learning on their own campus. Visit the SAA Department website for more information. The UW System Board of Regents approved the degree in June 2015. It was approved by the Higher Learning Commission in December 2015. Contact Jodie Rindt, SAA Department chair, for more information at jrindt@uwlax.ed or 608.785.6450.