Interview with Frank Giuseffi, Ed.D., about William Woods University’s Online Ed.D. Programs

About Frank Giuseffi, Ed.D.: Frank Giuseffi is Chair of Doctoral Studies at William Woods University, where he is also Associate Professor of Education. His role as Chair of Doctoral Studies encompasses directing each of the university’s three Ed.D. programs — in Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership (K-12), and Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations — as well as serving as a general adviser to students. He also has chaired over 20 graduate dissertations.

Dr. Giuseffi is an active scholar, whose work focuses on the philosophy of education. He is the author of the book How the Socratic Method Engenders Authentic Educational Experiences. He has published in a range of journals including Journal of Philosophy & History of Education, Insight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, and Critical Questions in Education, and has presented his research widely, including delivering the keynote address at the Society of Philosophy and History of Education conference in 2024. His academic expertise is reflected in his efforts to encourage students in each of the Ed.D. programs to grapple with the perennial question, “What is the purpose of education?”

Dr. Giuseffi holds his Doctor of Education with a major in Instructional Leadership from Lindenwood University, an MEd with a major in Curriculum and Instruction from William Woods University, and an MA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, among a number of other degrees and certificates in education and educational leadership. For his dissertation, he won the Lighthouse Consulting Doctor of Education in Administration Award.

Interview Questions

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] May we begin with an overview of your academic and professional background including your current role as Chair of Doctoral Studies and Ed.D. programs at William Woods University?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] I am a 20-year veteran of K-12 education. At the close of that career, I decided to make the transition into higher education in 2016 and secured a position as an Assistant Professor of Education and Online Program Manager at William Woods University in 2020. Shortly thereafter, I became Chair of Doctoral Studies in 2023. During this time, I have taught several doctoral level courses and published research in the areas of adult learning, philosophy of education, and school leadership.

As Chair of Doctoral Studies, I manage the daily processes and procedures of all three of the Ed.D. programs and offer leadership, guidance, and, hopefully, a level of inspiration to the people that work for me and to the students in our programs.

[OnlineEdPrograms.com] How has your experience as Associate Professor of Education informed your approach to directing the Ed.D. program?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] I focus on the philosophy of education because that research interest takes up questions such as, “What are the purposes of education?” and “What are the ways we implement those purposes?” Those two fundamental questions have always intrigued me. Both as Chair of Doctoral Studies and as a professor, I always try to direct conversations, collaborative efforts, assignments, and my leadership to answer those questions and to challenge doctoral students to deeply consider the purposes, processes, and outcomes of their educational experiences.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] William Woods University offers three different Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) programs: an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction; an Ed.D. in Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations; and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership (K-12). Would you provide us with an overview of these programs and the professional roles they are designed to prepare graduate students to work in?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] Our Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is our original and largest Ed.D. program. It primarily serves K-12 educators, teachers, principals, assistant superintendents, and superintendents. The culminating project is the Ed.D. dissertation, which is a traditional five-chapter dissertation. Both in coursework and in dissertation writing, we encourage students to focus on a topic that is reflective of their professional practice or a topic that speaks about a current problem, challenge, or issue in K-12 education. We try, as an educational staff, to help our students ask the question, “What is it that I want to change?” When they begin with that question and start to find an answer, it brings them closer to understanding the purposes of education, the purpose of their own work as a doctoral student, and what type of dissertation they want to write.

The second doctoral program is the Ed.D. in Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations program. That is a program I built with the help of full-time staff and adjuncts. To put it succinctly, we wanted to develop a program that went beyond the K-12 professional field and served people not just in education but in not-for-profit organizations, the service sector, the military, law, industry, and business. We wanted to offer them an educational opportunity to become better trainers and managers in the adult workforce, which is a dynamic, fluid environment.

That program focuses on training the trainer in those different professional fields. It also requires a traditional dissertation, but the focus can be on action research. Graduate students in the adult learning program can work on a study in their professional context, in their place of work, and find answers to problems that they want to solve.

Our final and newest program is the Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. As its title suggests, that program focuses on curriculum studies and instructional practice. It is primarily focused on K-12 education, but those working in other areas of education can benefit from the program as well. The Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction also requires a traditional dissertation, but in this program, we want students to think beyond traditional conceptions of curricula and instead discover the creative and innovative aspects of curricula and instruction.

We have courses that focus on the young person’s mind and technology, courses on different ways of looking at assessment and outcomes, and courses that take a global perspective and examine education outside of the United States. This is all done to expand the doctoral student’s mind and to challenge them to find innovative and creative forms of curriculum and instruction.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] Can you explain the admissions requirements for William Woods University’s three online Ed.D. programs, including which program(s) require an EdS versus a master’s degree for admission?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] The materials submitted for student applications are all the same, and we have greatly streamlined our criteria for applications. For Educational Leadership, the applicant typically must have an EdS in Educational Leadership, but I will consider students who have earned two master’s degrees, depending on the areas those degrees are in.

The Curriculum and Instruction Ed.D. program offers two pathways. You can earn an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction, then an EdS, then the Ed.D., or, if you already have a Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, you can move directly into the EdS to Ed.D. pathway. For the Ed.D. in Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations program, students can have a master’s in a variety of subjects. As with the other programs, I will look at the students’ transcripts to see if they have taken any research methodology courses or leadership courses that would transfer into the program.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] As you mentioned, the culminating experience for each of these programs is a doctoral dissertation. Would you discuss the dissertation requirement for the three Ed.D. programs, how student dissertations differ between the programs, and provide examples of recent student research?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] Each program requires a traditional dissertation, which is to say that all of our dissertations must be five chapters. Chapter one offers an introduction to the dissertation study. You must have a literature review, which is chapter two. You must present a very in-depth research design in chapter three. You report your findings in chapter four, and then you discuss the findings in chapter five. All three Ed.D. programs also follow the same procedures for dissertation completion. After the core coursework, each student is assigned a dissertation advisor (chair), they must successfully defend a research proposal, and the study must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

The Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations program is the most unique when it comes to the dissertation. As I mentioned, I want students to have an opportunity to focus on action research: choosing something you want to change in your professional field, whether it is in your workplace or elsewhere. The dissertation seminar courses, which are the two final courses completed after all other coursework is done, are also much more self-directed compared to the other programs, because self-direction is extremely important in adult learning, both in theory and application. I wanted the students to experience that themselves.

In all our EdD Programs, our students research a variety of thought-provoking subjects including alternative education, museum studies, and music education. We also facilitate dissertations that focus on math education, literacy, classroom management, education and social media, teacher retention, and more. In our Educational Leadership program, you will find that our dissertation chairs, who we train on a regular basis, have expertise in various aspects of education, so they are prepared to work with students who have diverse interests. However, all topics must be guided by the idea that they reflect educational leadership.

One student in the Ed.D. in Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations program won the annual Dissertation of the Year award for the 25-26 academic year. The student looked at how teachers and educators at the college level come together virtually and form virtual communities of practice. The student chose both Etienne Wenger’s influential concept of communities of practice and Malcolm Knowles’ Andragogy as their theoretical frameworks, which developed into an interesting and meaningful study.

In other words, doctoral students in our programs are thinking beyond traditional ideas about education, educational leadership, and adult learning.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] All three of William Woods University’s Ed.D. programs are offered entirely online. Would you elaborate on the online learning experiences offered by the programs?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] All three of the online Ed.D. programs are 100% online and asynchronous, with one caveat that we find to be a very powerful element in our programs. All of our content courses are offered in five-week terms, and every Wednesday during that term, students can voluntarily attend Zoom sessions to receive additional synchronous instruction. Faculty provide further lessons, feedback, and support during this time. It is voluntary, but we are finding that this is a force-multiplier for students to feel connected to their professors and to receive immediate feedback.

In online instruction, as we all know, feedback is critical. But sometimes, given the asynchronous format and the fact that we are all working professionals, there can be a time lag, and email communication sometimes cannot fully address a student’s issue. We find that synchronous opportunities every Wednesday are extremely helpful in our program.

We do not use a traditional cohort model, but the chance that most students who enrolled together, for example, in the first course in the Educational Leadership Ed.D. program, will also be together in subsequent courses is very high. While we do not have cohorts, students will often be working together and, again, Zooming in together on Wednesdays during those virtual sessions.

Another feature that supports doctoral students in all three of our programs is what we call the Dissertation Helpline, which meets every Tuesday and Thursday evening. When you reach the dissertation writing stage, you can Zoom in to receive extra help from a professor. The Helpline professors assist students in every aspect of the dissertation writing process, from organizing a literature review to effectively presenting research findings in chapter Four. The Helpline professors are an invaluable resource that doctoral students can take advantage of.

To give one example, we are great supporters of the Pomodoro writing strategy, which I introduced to our Ed.D. programs several years ago. This is a writing strategy that students use in real-time to help them make progress on their dissertations. After students in the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program have finished their content-focused coursework and the dissertation seminars, they take two dissertation workshop courses that are designed as scaffolding opportunities to assist them in making progress on their dissertations. The students attend the Helpline to participate in the Pomodoro writing strategy in these two workshop courses. This is also a strategy encouraged by the faculty who run the Dissertation Helpline.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] Will you discuss the faculty mentorship opportunities available to students in William Woods University’s online Ed.D. programs?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] Students essentially have three advisors. The first advisor is what one would call an academic advisor, and that person will guide them through the course sequence, give them basic information, and students will be in contact with that academic advisor with every new course. The second advisor is me, the Chair of Doctoral Studies. I am available to field any questions students may have, to offer support, and to ensure students are making steady progress in the program.

The third advisor is the student’s chair, who is assigned once the student has passed comprehensive exams (chapter one draft). I let the dissertation chairs choose the dissertation topics they would be interested in working with the student on. As Chair of Doctoral Studies, I try to keep tabs on the number of students each chair has, so the dissertation chair does not experience overload or burnout.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] Do you have advice for students wishing to make the most of their mentorship opportunities in an online program?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] We emphasize that this is your dissertation. This is a learner-centered experience. The sooner you know what your topic is, the better. The way students can build self-efficacy is to consciously and intentionally think of a research topic while they take their coursework. It is vital to discuss the dissertation study with your chair on a regular basis. Our chairs are passionate about their roles and thoroughly enjoy working with motivated and committed doctoral students.

We have what we call Chair Seminars, which are voluntary professional development sessions offered throughout the academic year. I invite educators, including current chairs, full-time professors in the department, and outside experts, to hold workshops and give lectures and presentations on topics that develop our chairs’ professional knowledge. Chair Seminars are another way we can help chairs encourage students to be self-directed as they research and write their dissertations.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] Do you have advice for prospective students who are interested in applying to the Ed.D. programs that would help them optimize their applications? Are there other qualities you have found that make students’ statement of intent, letters of recommendation, and CVs especially effective?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] Our applications are quite basic, but it is important to have teaching experience in the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program. The students who stand out in our programs should be able to seriously and thoughtfully consider and explore the following questions: What do I want to change? What do I want to change in K-12 education? What do I want to change in curriculum and instruction? What do I want to change in my place of work?

Students should carry those answers through their entire experience in our doctoral programs. I would also advise students, if admitted, to envision a timeline of when they would like to complete and successfully defend their dissertation. Having a timeline will help keep them motivated as they take courses and write their dissertations.

[OnlineEdDPrograms.com] What makes William Woods University’s online Ed.D. programs a unique and exciting choice for prospective graduate students? Are there important ways you see the program evolving over the next 5-10 years?

[Dr. Frank Giuseffi] All of our Ed.D. programs are learning experiences. All three programs focus on rigor, high-quality instruction, and real-world impact. Whether in Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations, Curriculum and Instruction, or Educational Leadership, students entering our programs will experience collaborative relationships with their professors and peer support. They will experience high-quality online instruction oriented toward problems of professional practice. In other words, once students earn their doctorates, they feel empowered to make change in their places of work.

In the future, we will continue to concentrate our efforts on high-quality online instruction, rigorous curricula, and meaningful dissertation studies. We will also continue to research and responsibly leverage emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, in the education of our doctoral students. Lastly, we will create learning environments that help create leaders and educators who can make positive changes in the world.

Thank you, Dr. Giuseffi, for discussing William Woods University’s online Ed.D. programs in Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership (K-12), and Leadership and Adult Learning in Organizations, and your work as Chair of Doctoral Studies with us!