Graduate Certificates for Union Doctoral Students

Union Institute & University’s Graduate Certificates provide you with a distinguished addition to your Ph.D. focus. All students in the Ph.D. Program in Interdisciplinary Studies have the option to pursue (in addition to their concentration in Educational Studies, Ethical and Creative Leadership, Humanities and Culture, or Public Policy and Social Change) one of these graduate certificates embedded in the program.

While each certificate requires 12 credits, some of the certificates require participation in additional activities such as presentations or attendance at meetings or webinars. To earn a certificate (or in some cases two certificates when requirements overlap) students should engage in careful planning with their concentration advisor and the coordinator of the certificate(s) being sought.

Students who earn a certificate will have this reflected on their transcripts and diploma.

Guide to Graduate Certificates Creative Writing Design Thinking Educational Leadership Ethics and Philosophy Executive Leadership Museum Studies Women’s & Gender Studies

Creative Writing

Coordinator: Dr. Carol Barrett

The Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing is tailored to students producing a creative dissertation centered on creative writing, as well as other students who wish to integrate creative writing into their Ph.D. coursework. This 12-credit-hour certificate provides students with a formal recognition of their graduate-level coursework in creative writing, their active engagement in the strengthening of their creative writing skills, and their dedication to creative writing as a craft, scholarship, and intellectual pursuit.

Design Thinking

Coordinator: Dr. Anu Mitra

The Graduate Certificate in Design Thinking is focused on providing scholar-practitioners with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to lead experiential learning. Learn to leverage design thinking for implementing positive changes in your community and addressing real challenges. Pursue rewarding research on Design Thinking and related models of cooperative partnership as a forum for problem solving.t.

Educational Leadership

Coordinator: Dr. Beryl Watnick

The Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership provides a more focused lens through which Education and Leadership scholar-practitioners perceive and understand the highly complex nature of leadership in schools and institutions of higher education. By narrowing the focus, special emphasis will be on praxis and allow for enhanced opportunities that engage educational practitioners in real-life problem solving.

Ethics and Philosophy

Coordinator: Dr. Chris Voparil

The Graduate Certificate in Ethics and Philosophy is designed for students who wish to deepen their understanding of ethics and philosophy to complement their scholarly and professional development. The program of study offers a critical engagement with classic and contemporary texts and emphasizes using ethics and philosophy to promote social change through application to current social issues and moral problems.

Executive Leadership

Coordinator: Dr. Betty Overton-Adkins

The Executive Leadership Certificate provides students with formal recognition of their course work in leadership and signals interest and preparation for upper managerial leadership roles and responsibilities. The certificate acknowledges preparation that emphasizes focus on a deep understanding of leadership issues within nonprofit organizations, and especially those organizations where a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion are important to organizational success.

Museum Studies

Coordinator: Dr. Anu Mitra

The Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies is available to all students enrolled in the PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies program to gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to be an agile museum practitioner for the 21st-century museum-one who is always making connections and finding new possibilities in order to keep operations smooth, collections relevant, and visitors inspired.

Women’s & Gender Studies

Coordinator: Diane Richard-Allerdyce, Ph.D.

The Graduate Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies provides students with a formal recognition of their graduate-level coursework in, scholarly commitment to, and familiarity with the field of Women’s and Gender Studies for those seeking employment in academic Women’s and/or Gender Studies departments and/or community, non-profit, government, corporate or other professional tracks. Women’s and Gender Studies serves as a theoretical foundation for their dissertations and further research.