Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 58

CONVERSATIONS
Larry Faerman: In the second
semester of my master's program,
an instructor, who was also the vice
president for student affairs, asked if I
was considering a doctoral degree. This
was prompted by one of my answers
to a question he had asked. Since that
time, I always thought I would; the
question was when. I also believed
that the doctorate was essential for my
career aspirations.
Talking Stick: What influenced your
decision to pursue a Ph.D. versus an
Ed.D. or other terminal degree?

Jahr: I would like to address a
perception that either a Ph.D. or an
Ed.D. is best. In our profession, it really
makes little to no difference. And the
difference is in the eyes of those who
have one or the other. With that said,
most folks have a tendency to be more
comfortable being either quantitatively
or qualitatively oriented. That tendency
is likely to impact your methodology
and choice.

McCracken: I had a supervisor who
really pushed the Ph.D. as the superior
degree. Our faculty had both, and I
actually believed those with an Ed.D.
to be the better teachers. For me, there
wasn't really a philosophical debate
between the two. I chose the Ph.D. out
of convenience and the institutional
brand name. People have a perception
that the Ph.D. is more of a research
degree, and I suppose there is some
validity to that given the additional
research requirements. However,
I honestly do not really notice a
difference. My chair is a tenured faculty
member with an Ed.D. at a research
one school, and he is in my opinion the
best faculty member in the program.

Hyatt: I chose an Ed.D. deliberately
towards a career as a practitioner.
Ironically, I am also currently teaching
three different courses a year in our
higher education master's degree
program, so it hasn't stopped any
avenues for me for faculty opportunities.
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TALKING STICK

Lee: I decided to do an Ed.D. because
it was presented as a practitioner's
degree, giving me the option to take
classes on topics such as personnel
management, financing of student
affairs, and advising. I didn't want to
ever be told that I was underqualified
for any position I applied for. The
irony was that upon graduation I faced
the challenge of having significantly
more education than practical fulltime experience, which left me both
underqualified and overqualified for
many positions for which I applied.
Talking Stick: What personal and
professional decisions have you made
based largely on your decision to
pursue this degree? (i.e., Choose a job
at a campus with the program you
wanted, not pursue a position because
you didn't want to add an additional
pressure, etc.).

Faerman: I stayed at Florida Atlantic
for nine years mostly because I was
in a doctoral program. Each time I
would consider applying for a position,
or interviewed for a position, I knew
deep down I would not have the selfdiscipline to complete it if I wasn't on
the campus at which I was pursuing
the degree.

Stark: I chose to start my degree after
having been at the institution for three
years. The timing was right. I had just
moved into the assistant director role,
I was out of the front lines of being on
call, and my supervisor was incredibly
supportive. It was also helpful to learn
that I could pursue the director-level
move-up nationally and finish my
writing from a distance. In the directorlevel search, it was important for me
to find a workplace environment and
supervisor that would support my
writing and completion of the degree.

Meaney: When I decided to start
looking at programs, I was working
at a small private school where I was
constantly on call and working outside
of normal business hours in addition

to 40 hours a week in the office. I
was going to have to find something
where I could have a more consistent
and manageable work schedule. As I
conducted my job search I made sure to
explore Ph.D. opportunities at or near
the institutions that had employment
opportunities in which I was interested.
In a couple of cases I did not pursue
openings because I didn't see a way to
pursue my degree if I moved there.

Tankersley: The biggest personal
decision was how doing this would
impact my ability to remain successful
in my current position and how it
would impact my ability to balance
work, school, personal life, and my
girlfriend at the time. Luckily for me,
my girlfriend and I started the program
the same semester, so we had a lot of
very exciting study dates.
Talking Stick: What were some ways
you had to balance priorities through
the process? What were ways that your
institution did or did not accommodate
you during the process?

Staten: I discussed the prospect with my
vice president before I applied to ensure
that he would support the time and
work. Completing the internship was
difficult because I was working in the
vice president for finance office for my
experience, and I had to do that during
the general business day. That required
me working even longer hours in the
office and at home to do my job of being
director of housing. I also had several
major personal incidents throughout my
program. At those times, I had to reduce
the attention to my degree efforts.

McCracken: Because my supervisor
and department are supportive, I have
the opportunity to miss a few hours of
work each week for school. I make them
up in different ways, but I could not
get my Ph.D. without the flexibility my
job provides. For me, balance comes in
the form of a continuum. I think some
people view balance as an even split,
when in fact balance for me is an ability
Talking Stick - March/April 2016

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