Admission Requirements and Process
In order to ensure the quality of the doctoral program in adult education, the following admissions criteria are indicated:
- A Master's Degree in Adult Education or a related field.
- Current involvement in the practice of adult education, together with three to five years experience in the field.
- Expertise in communication and academic skills consistent with doctoral study, including the:
- ability to communicate meaning clearly, orally and in written form,
- ability to identify and challenge assumptions undergirding construction of adult education theory, research and practice,
- ability to build alternative arguments grounded in clear reference to evidence,
- ability to clarify the cultural construction of adult education practice, and
- ability to evaluate the internal consistency and clarity of scholarly research and argument.
- Consistency between the collaborative design of the program and individual student's expectations, goals, and learning style.
The admissions process is designed to assess applicants' experiences as adult educators, their academic skills and their intellectual and emotional readiness and capacity for critical thinking and participation in the doctoral program design.
The admissions process also encourages applicants to take responsibility for building a case, in their own terms, as to why they should be admitted into the program engaging with faculty and each other in discourse as doctoral students. Furthermore, it allows applicants to demonstrate the intensity and dimensions of their experiences as adult educators and their capacity for reflecting critically on these experiences and on formal research and theory in the field. The admissions process will mirror processes of the actual program in order to ensure consistency throughout all phases of the program and to give the students a sense of what they can expect their experience to be if they are accepted. Faculty will gain a more accurate reading of students' abilities. Throughout the admissions process, a communication loop will be in place which ensures that students will be consistently informed of the status of their application.
Keeping these factors in mind, the following admissions process has been designed. Students will:
- Submit a standard application package in which they will list their academic qualification and their experience as adult educators. This package will include a personal statement in which candidates state what they hope to gain from the program, their expectations regarding its operational aspects, and what core beliefs, values and assumptions underlie their practice as adult educators. An academic writing sample of the students' choice will also be included in the application package. For a brochure and/or application materials enter your name and address on this form and we will mail you a packet. The application packet will include two mainstream articles in the field of adult. Applicants will write brief critical commentaries on the accuracy of the articles, emphasizing particular parts of the text they find to be discrepant with or omitted from their experiences as adult educators.
- After a review of these application documents and the writing sample, chosen applicants will be invited to participate in a Weekend Seminar which provides an opportunity for them to meet the faculty and each other. Students will work in groups on problem solving and creative writing activities. By modeling the activities of a typical weekend seminar, applicants will be able to make informed judgments as to the compatibility between this program and their needs and goals.
- During the Weekend Seminar, each applicant will participate in an interview at which they would be asked to talk about their experiences as adult educators, their beliefs, their reasons for applying to the program, and some of the issues they have raised in the earlier assignments. Candidates will be encouraged to ask questions of faculty and to look at examples of work-essays, Critical Engagement Project (CEP) proposals, completed CEPs, and other projects-that doctoral students have produced.
After all suitable candidates have been interviewed, an admissions committee will meet to decide who will be admitted. Criteria for admission will include those noted above. Qualified candidates will be ranked by individual academic and behavioral criteria. The final cluster of applicants would be chosen from among those most qualified by the criteria identified above, while insuring broad representation according to geographic and work sectors, gender and ethnicity. Candidates will be admitted to the cohort for which they applied.
Readmission
Students dropped from the program for academic reasons will not be considered for readmission.
If for some other reason an admitted student is unable to continue in the program with her or his cohort, that student may reapply for admission to join a subsequent cohort. A special form is available for reapplication. Readmission does not require resubmission of credentials or letters of reference. A narrative providing the rationale for readmission is required, however.
At the discretion of the admissions committee, a previously admitted student requesting readmission may also be required to participate in a Weekend Seminar with the new cohort. In preparation, such an applicant would also be required to prepare any written materials to be used during the Seminar, including the critical commentary mentioned above in the regular admissions process. An interview would be part of this reapplication process as well.
In every case the admissions committee will make the final determination concerning the readmission of the candidate.
ACE Doctoral Admissions
Contact: thea@chicago1.nl.edu
