On Saturday, May 3, two CPED EdD students from SUNY Buffalo nearing the end of their program presented their work to approximately 15 CPED EdD students just beginning their program at St. Bonaventure University (SBU) in Olean, NY. 

The presentations were part of a larger in person gathering of the inaugural first two cohorts of SBU’s new EdD program –  an event which mixed both social and academic activities, as well as celebratory gatherings, for the new virtual program. 

The presenting SUNY Buffalo students, Allison Manning and Jennie Knight Billera, both described the event as a “wonderful opportunity” to practice their dissertation defenses.  About a week after the event, Mrs. Manning followed up with an email to Dr. Margolis, SBU EdD Program Director, to announce that “I am now too, Dr. M … Passed this morning!!  Thanks again for the opportunity to discuss my work with your students.” 

Dr. Margolis commented the event was “mutually beneficial … The visiting students said they appreciated 'testing out' their dissertation presentations with us, and our students said they learned more not only about the content of this type of doctoral work in both K-12 and higher education settings, but the process of balancing work, life, and academics in an EdD program.”  Through the CPED network, Dr. Margolis was able to find the two geographically-close EdD students who were just weeks away from completing their EdD applied research journey.   

In addition to making problem of practice-based dissertations tangible to students who were just beginning the process, Dr. Margolis added that “it made other concepts we have been exploring — like the utility of case study and avoiding bias — tangible.  It also highlighted collaboration over competitiveness amongst CPED institutions, something we seek to foster within our cohorts and program here as well.” 

Through the CPED network, Dr. Margolis was able to find both a K-12 and higher education example for the presentations.  Mrs. Knight Billera’s presentation was titled “Culturally Responsive and Transformative Social Emotional Learning in the High School Urban Education Classroom” and Mrs. Manning presented “From Classroom to Clinic: Exploring Speech-Language Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students’ Perspectives.” 

SBU students also said they appreciated this CPED student sharing event. Second semester student Calsey Bump reflected, “As a student in the first cohort of the inaugural Educational Leadership, EdD program at St. Bonaventure University, I valued our time with the CPED institution students from SUNY Buffalo as their presentations provided us with direct visualization of what to expect in terms of our dissertation requirements.” 

First semester student Joanne West added, “I am particularly appreciative ​of learning a bit about the EdD candidates, who briefly spoke about their work and personal lives. This reinforced that while this will be a strenuous journey, it is possible for those of us who have considerable family and work commitments.”