羞羞漫画

Teachers, higher education professionals, healthcare workers; together, they make up a historic group of learners at 羞羞漫画: the first cohort to enroll in the institution鈥檚 Doctorate of Educational Leadership program. Designed to promote high-impact leadership and change practices, the program launched in June 2021 and welcomed 18 new students.

According to Dr. Chery Lucarelli, graduate education studies chair, this inspired group also shares a common passion.

鈥淭he program is focused on equity and social justice,鈥� Lucarelli said. 鈥淎ll of our students care about this deeply; these are the type of people who are attracted to our educational doctorate, who are committed to transforming and improving the lives of individuals and their institutions.鈥�

Who are they? What inspired them to join the 羞羞漫画 learning community? And how do they plan to transform their communities post-graduation? Meet three members of this special cohort and learn how these soon-to-be-doctorates have embraced the call to lead.

Sarah Huling (MBA 鈥�19)

Huling, a sonographer in Forks, WA, is no stranger to the College. During a National Rural Health Association conference in 2017, she was seated next to Terry Hill, a nationally recognized expert in rural health and adjunct faculty member at 羞羞漫画. Hill encouraged Huling to check out the College鈥檚 rural healthcare MBA.

And she did.

After graduating in 2019, Huling was still thinking about her master鈥檚 thesis, Impacting Patient Outcomes with Applied Behavior Analysis and began looking into doctoral programs to continue her research. When she learned the College was launching a Doctorate of Educational Leadership, she knew she鈥檇 be returning.

鈥淎ll of the stars aligned,鈥� she said.

Huling hopes her doctoral studies will build upon her MBA thesis in exploring the value equation of healthcare and its impacts on rural healthcare. 鈥淎ll of the data shows that we鈥檙e older, sicker and more chronically issued out here in rural communities,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 hope to bridge the gap between patient outcomes and the business model; to address healthcare as a human right versus a privilege.鈥�

As the College celebrates Love of Learning as its value of the year, Huling describes her approach to learning as a 鈥渞estless, impatient, but hopeful kind of pursuit.鈥�

Erin Karlgaard (MS 鈥�19)

Karlgaard, a third-grade teacher and curriculum representative, earned her K-6 licensure through the school鈥檚 graduate teaching licensure program in 2019. Karlgaard recalls a poignant and foreshadowing memory from her master鈥檚 commencement ceremony.

鈥淒uring graduation, there was a sign that said 鈥榙octoral students enter here,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚 took a picture of myself standing next to it and it has been on my mind ever since that moment; it kept nagging me until I knew it was time to start [this program].鈥�

The Brainerd, MN native is eager to take the lessons from her doctoral program and apply them towards systemic change and advocacy for all students; she wants to help create a system that works for everybody.

鈥淲hen we look at national education data, we see the same opportunity gap has existed for the same population for 30 years,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know how to meet the needs of those students with our current model, so my focus of dissertation will be to think about how we change that existing educational model. How will it impact students鈥� ability to succeed when we let them own the learning?鈥�

Put simply, she said, 鈥渨e don鈥檛 know what we don鈥檛 know.鈥�

Nevertheless, Karlgaard is driven by this curiosity and the motivation to instill lifelong learning in the classroom and with her own two teenagers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been the best part of my summer: meeting people to be nerdy with who had the same questions I had!鈥�

Jennifer Niemi

Niemi, director of Native studies at the College, admits her entry into higher education was an unconventional one.

鈥淚 started college because I was bored,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淚 was not a traditional college-bound student. Not that my family didn鈥檛 think it was possible, it was just never talked about as being an option.鈥�

After high school graduation, Niemi missed all of her friends who went off to college, so she made the decision to enroll, too. She 鈥渟tumbled鈥� through her associate in arts degree and eventually pursued her bachelor鈥檚 at which point her dad gave her a nudge: 鈥測ou鈥檝e got to keep going.鈥�

Niemi earned her master鈥檚 in environmental education and worked at Fond du Lac Tribal College and the Minnesota Historical Society before finding her way back to higher education at the College in 2018. This time, the transition to the EdD wasn鈥檛 due to boredom, but intentionality.

鈥淚 always felt like the next step was going to be a doctorate,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was just waiting for the right time.鈥�

The program鈥檚 focus on social justice was also a huge selling point. Niemi describes equity, diversity and inclusion work as her life鈥檚 goals, both personally and professionally. She looks forward to growing as a student and as an educator during the next four years and finding inspiration in how the College can encourage students to become agents of change in their own fields.

And as for the guy who told her to keep going all those years ago, he鈥檚 got her back this time, too. 鈥淢y dad has been my biggest champion.鈥�

About the Doctorate of Educational Leadership

羞羞漫画鈥檚 Doctorate in Educational Leadership (EdD) program is designed to support current and aspiring leaders in recognizing inequities in their professional settings and create a plan of action to address them. The inclusive environment will stimulate the best development of innovative thinking to solve today鈥檚 complex social problems.

The program was recently accepted into the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) consortium, a nationally recognized organization that works to continuously improve the EdD for the preparation of practitioners. Members of CPED must demonstrate assurances of critical frameworks to the program including an emphasis on equity, problems of practice analysis and collaboration with diverse communities.

Learn more about the College鈥檚 EdD program.