Beginning this fall, UNLV's College of Education will be offering three new doctoral degree programs.

The new programs are a Ph.D. in learning and technology, a Ph.D. in teacher education, and a Ph.D. in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education.

"These new programs are designed to meet the needs of Nevada residents seeking doctoral-level degrees in education," said Gene Hall, dean of the College of Education. "We constantly are looking for new ways to help our state's citizens achieve their educational goals. At the same time, we remain mindful of the need of the Clark County School District for an ever-increasing number of highly qualified educators.

"These new programs will also serve the Community College of Southern Nevada and the new state college in Henderson. Developing the next generation of college faculty is a very important part of our mission.

"While these new programs will equip graduates to work in the K-12 school system and higher education, they also in many cases will serve as excellent preparation for a range of careers in the private sector or with other types of governmental agencies," Hall said.

The learning and technology Ph.D. program will prepare its graduates to fill a variety of jobs - both in education and in other technology-intensive fields - in which the ability to do research and assess the effectiveness of the technologies being used is paramount, said Ralph Reynolds, chair of the department of educational psychology at UNLV.

Graduates of the program will have the ability to use the latest research findings not only to judge how effectively various technologies are being used in schools or in the workplace, but also will be able to suggest modifications to make the use of technology more effective, Reynolds said.

They could qualify to work as faculty members or research and development personnel at universities and school districts, educational psychologists, employee training specialists, program evaluators, educational technology coordinators, and instructional technology specialists.

The new Ph.D. program in teacher education will attract teachers and other educators who have an interest in becoming practitioner-oriented scholars in teacher education and who are interested in teacher education as a field of research, said Martha Young, chair of UNLV's department of curriculum and instruction.

Sandra Odell, a professor in curriculum and instruction who worked diligently on the creation of the new doctoral degree program in teacher education, said the program puts UNLV on the cutting edge of preparing practitioners and scholars in teacher education.

"UNLV will be positioned to take a leadership role in preparing the next wave of teacher educators as one of only three institutions in the nation offering a Ph.D. in teacher education," Odell said.

Young said that among the goals of the program are preparing students for university-level faculty positions in teacher education, connecting the theory and research related to teaching and learning to the practice of teaching in schools and to the practice of teaching university courses, and preparing participants to design and conduct research using quantitative and qualitative methodologies with particular emphasis on applied research in the context of diverse schools.

The new Ph.D. program in educational leadership will emphasize the areas of higher education administration and post-secondary education. It differs from the doctoral program in educational leadership already offered by the university in that the existing program is tailored to meet the needs of practitioners while the new program is designed for those persons interested in research-based careers, said Teresa Jordan, chair of UNLV's department of educational leadership.

Graduates of the program will be prepared to assume leadership positions not only at universities and community colleges, but also in the private sector and in government agencies. Jordan said her department has been receiving a growing number of inquiries about such a program from individuals employed by corporations, businesses, industry, government agencies, and non-profit programs related to education.

For more information about these new degree programs, call the College of Education at 895-3375.