community

I rounded out my program with two courses that were like capstones on my HALE experience and provided the richest integration with my work life. The first is EAD801 - Leadership and Organizational Development. Beginning that semester I assumed responsibilities as Acting Director of MSU's Virtual University Design and Technology department. I also participated as a Fellow in MSU's 2007-2008 Executive Leadership Academy which complements my activities in EAD801.

Joining the new students at orientation reinvigorated my learning spirit. Since I've stayed in the MSU community for so long and had already completed three courses I volunteered to help answer questions for the other incoming students. I found out we had a great deal of diversity in our cohort. We had a few international students, a couple of people that already had more then one degree, and a couple that were switching careers. Many of us already had substantial experience working in higher education and were building on that with the degree program.

I formally entered the program in Fall of 2006 at the bottom of this page you'll find a link to my statement of interests I wrote shortly after entering the program. I started by maintaining focus on the three areas that had already attracted my attention: further practice writing, study of higher education organizations, and theories on teaching and learning.