Ferris State University’s Board of Trustees approved a new Doctor of Education degree last month.

According to a state­ment from the uni­ver­sity, the degree was approved on Dec. 18. The Doctor of Education Degree’s pur­pose is to help pre­pare the next gen­er­a­tion of com­mu­nity col­lege lead­ers to take on increas­ingly com­plex sets of edu­ca­tional challenges.

Courses in the Educational Doctorate in Community College Leadership are a com­bi­na­tion of courses from the col­leges of Business, Education, Arts and Sciences, and Professional and Technological studies.

“The unique empha­sis of this pro­gram fits nicely with Ferris State University’s mis­sion of prepar­ing the state’s cit­i­zens for suc­cess­ful careers that will shape the future of Michigan,” Ferris Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Fritz Erickson said.

Erickson said Ferris is well suited to offer this degree based upon its career-oriented, broad-based approach to education.

The uni­ver­sity expects to enroll its first class of stu­dents in the pro­gram begin­ning in sum­mer 2010.

Roberta Teahen, an Associate Provost, said a for­mer Ferris pres­i­dent sug­gested the idea for the degree. Dr. Robert Ewigleben men­tioned the idea because “he has lots of friends who are com­mu­nity col­lege pres­i­dents, and so was he,” said Teahen.

Teahen said President Eisler was intrigued by the idea and con­ducted a study of fea­si­bil­ity to deter­mine if the degree was worth being imple­mented. After the study was com­pleted, Eisler noticed there was poten­tial for the degree.

The degree is aimed towards train­ing future admin­is­tra­tors, deans, direc­tors, coor­di­na­tors, vice pres­i­dents and pres­i­dents for com­mu­nity col­leges, said Teahen.

Ferris fac­ulty mem­bers, mainly from the College of Business and the College of Education and Human Services along with com­mu­nity col­lege admin­is­tra­tors, will instruct the classes.

“This will be the first non-medical, non-clinical degree for the uni­ver­sity, that’s unique,” said Teahen.