PLEASE TYPE (for students admitted after 3/1/12 and before 3/1/15)

Ph.D. in Education Program of Study

Program plan for Ryan Bradshaw

1. Core Course

EDUC 800 (3) Ways of Knowing – Spring 2014

2. Research Methods (15)

EDRS 810 (3) Problems and Methods in Education Research – Fall 2014
EDRS 811 (3) Quantitative Methods in Educational Research – Spring 2015
EDRS 812 (3) Qualitative Methods in Educational Research – Spring 2016
Two of the following: EDRS 820, EDRS 821, EDRS 822, EDRS 823, EDRS 824
EDRS 825, EDRS 826, EDRS 827, EDRS 828, EDRS 831
1. EDRS 822: Advanced Qualitative Methods (3 CR) – Spring 2017
2. EDRS 897: Digital Tools in Qualitative Inquiry (3 CR) – Summer 2018

3. Professional Specialization (24): Higher Education

Major Area
1. HE 710 (CTCH 792): Leadership in Higher Education (3 CR) – Spring 2018
2. CTCH 821: History of Higher Education (3 CR) – Fall 2015
3. CTCH 826: Institutional & Program Assessment in Higher Education (3 CR) – Fall
2015
3. HE 830: Ethics in Higher Education (3 CR) – Spring 2018 (no longer offered)
4. CTCH 792: Current Trends in Higher Education (3CR) – Summer 2014
5. CTCH 701: Higher Education Law (3 CR) – Fall 2014
6. CTCH 644: Student Services in Higher Education (3 CR) – Spring 2015
7. HE 722: Organization and Administration of Higher Education (3 CR) – Fall 2016
8. HE 704: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (3 CR) – Spring 2017
9. HE 645: Contemporary College Student (3 CR) – Fall 2017

4. Secondary Emphasis (12): Sport Management

Minor Area(s)
1. SRST 606: Foundation of Sport and Recreation Studies – Fall 2016
2. WMST 560: Gender and Sport – Spring 2009 (from SIUC)
3. KIN 550: Legal Aspects of Sport – Spring 2009 (from SIUC)
4. HE 897: Philanthropy and Affinity in Sport and Higher Education - Directed
Reading with Dr. Baker – Fall 2017

5. Dissertation (12)

EDUC 998 (3) Doctoral Dissertation Proposal

 EDUC 999 (9) Doctoral Dissertation Research

PROPOSED DATE FOR COMPREHENSIVE PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT:

PROGRAM RATIONALE (please review the Program Guidelines for directions):

____________________________________________________________________

Aside from the required courses (EDUC 800, EDRS 810, EDRS 811, EDRS 812, CTCH 821,
CTCH 826, HE 710), my coursework has been selected with a focus on my career goals and
research interests. Current Trends in Higher Education (CTCH 792) was taken at the start of my
coursework to open my eyes to the world of American higher education, as I had primarily
studied and worked in Canada prior to coming to Mason. I took Higher Education Law (CTCH
701) early in my studies as it is a subject that has greatly interested me since high school, but also
related to the work I was doing at the time and the work I plan to do in the future in Recreation,
Athletics, Student Organizations, and Student Affairs by covering the topics of Title IX and OCR
guidelines, institutional legal liability, and hazing. Similarly, Student Services in Higher
Education (CTCH 644) was taken as it aligned with my job at the time in student affairs and still
relates to my future goal of leading a Student Affairs division. Insight into the operations of
student services professionals at different types of institutions will assist in my future career
moves. Organization and Administration of Higher Education (HE 722) is another course I chose
to take as it fit with my goal of continuing to climb the ladder of student affairs at a higher
education institution. This course was relevant to understanding the organizational structure of
different types of colleges and how that affects the culture of the institution, in order to navigate
the political environment of colleges in my desired career path.

Contemporary College Students (HE 645) was taken later in my studies as I found that my
coursework up to that point had indicated that student populations on campus have been
evolving, leading to more "non-traditional" students enrolling in classes. As a student services
professional, understanding this contemporary college student and the challenges they face is
important to serving them and ensuring their graduation. I am finding that this class is also
relevant in my current position with the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), as we discuss and
explore the career pathways of the diverse student population and begin to explore mental health
challenges that face graduate students. I also took Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (HE
704) as I have previously instructed undergraduate level courses at Mount Royal University and
was surprised that I had been given no pedagogical instruction. I enjoyed teaching courses and
would like to teach a class per semester in the future. This course increased my knowledge of
different pedagogical approaches to assist me in teaching courses in the future. The course has
also been useful in a secondary project I am working on at CGS that involves organizing a
convening of institutions involved in a project on Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) that has many
SoTL components.
For my secondary concentration of Sport Management, I have four courses. Foundation of Sport
and Recreation Studies (SRST 606) was taken as I found that in my Masters level classes, I never
took a foundational course in Sport Management. This course allowed me to explore the
foundational level of my secondary concentration. Women and Sport (WMST 560 from SIUC)
allowed me to gain a better understanding the historical restrictions placed on women's
participation in sport and how this continues to affect female participation in sport and recreation
today aligns with my career emphasis in campus recreation. Legal Aspects of Sport (KIN 550
from SIUC) was also valuable as having a thorough knowledge of the legal aspects of sport is
essential to protecting our student participants, staff, and the institution while working in a risky
field like campus recreation and with career goals that potentially involve overseeing athletics at
a college. The fourth course was taken as an independent study investigating Philanthropy and
Affinity in Sport and Education (HE 897), a topic of interest of mine, particularly as a
dissertation topic. I have developed this interest based on my experience of working in collegiate
recreation and student services and seeing that there is a large untapped potential source of
funding in alumni of Club Sport programs. This independent study with Dr. Baker allowed me to
investigate this topic further by completing an extensive literature review on the history of
philanthropy in higher education, the literature that exists on philanthropy to and affinity for alma
mater’s by alumni based on the sociodemographic characteristics and their experience as
students, as well as exploring motivations and barriers to donating for varsity athletes.

In terms of elective research method courses, Advanced Qualitative Methods (EDRS 822) was
taken as I discovered that through my coursework I have preferred conducting qualitative
research in order to answer the 'why" question. I have conducted several qualitative studies
during my time at Mason and am leaning towards completing either a mixed methods or
qualitative study for my dissertation. While I had hoped to take Mixed Methods Research as my
second elective research method course, the limited offering of that class has made it difficult for
me to register for it in two consecutive years (it is only offered once per year after not being
offered for an 18 month period after Dr. Maxwell retired). As such, I am furthering my
qualitative research methods work by taking Digital Tools in Qualitative Inquiry in Summer
2018 (EDRS 897). This course interested me as I continue to expand my knowledge and
capabilities of ways to conduct qualitative studies. I see digital tools further becoming a part of
this method of research in the future and would like to be able to incorporate them in my future
work as a researcher or in student affairs.

_______________________________
Student Signature Date

_______________________________________ ________________________________________
Chair, Date Margaret Hjalmarson, Director Date
Doctoral Advising Committee Ph.D. in Education Program

______________________________________
Member, Date
Doctoral Advising Committee
(Minor area representative)

______________________________________
Member, Date
Doctoral Advising Committee