Tom Hoerr and Mindy Bier are pleased to announce their new doctorate program in Character Development, Social Emotional Learning, and Leadership, beginning in fall 2025 at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. The program is is designed to help educational leaders, regardless of their title or role, become more effective and help others grow. Believing that who you are is as important as what you know, our program focuses on enabling students to make a positive difference in their organization, school communities and the world through personal and professional transformation. Students will create dissertation topics that stem from their passions and enable them to become experts in the field.

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This cohort begins August 2025. Learning Community courses, where students engage with professors and other students around the theme of the cohort, are taught via a virtual meeting space. Other courses are delivered in an online-asynchronous fashion. The program is designed to be completed in three years. Through the first two years of the program, students will take learning community classes and coursework designed to equip the student for dissertation research. In the third year, students shift from coursework to completing their dissertation. While the dissertation can take many forms, the Ed.D. dissertation is meant to be a practitioner-oriented document that highlights the candidate's expertise in an area of practice. Students may complete a solo dissertation or work together in small groups.

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This Ed.D. requires a minimum of 80 credit hours. Students may bring in up to 33 credit hours from a Master’s program and 54 hours from an Ed.S. program. Graduates will become a resource to everyone around them, helping educational institutions and school systems operate more effectively in preparing students and educators to grow and make a positive difference in the world. 

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Worthy Incubators are completely online and designed to provide you with focused learning and resources that you can immediately implement in your professional and personal life. Let us be your partner as you continue your leadership journey!

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The Worthy Educator is a safe, supportive community where educators can pursue their passions, plan for impact, and craft a legacy they can be proud of as they conclude the second half of their careers. Please join us!