CMU Doctorate in Educational Leadership

09/02/2026

The 2026 CMU Staff Excellence Award recipients were announced earlier today, and we are especially proud to see two current Ed.D. students, Rob Vandorin and Wade Tomson, among this year’s honorees!

Rob serves as Executive Director of Business and Community Outreach for CMU Online and Wade serves as the Senior Associate Director of Campus Visits and Events for Undergraduate Admissions.

The Staff Excellence Awards are the highest award given to CMU staff members, making this a particularly meaningful recognition. As the linked article states, this year had a record 117 nominations and 19 staff members selected for the award.

And there is another connection to our program: Dr. Jenny Laubenthal is also among this year's recipients. She teaches HED 611: Critical Approaches to Assessment in Higher Education, an elective course that many of our Ed.D. students take. We are delighted to see her excellent work recognized, too.

Rob, Wade, and Jenny will be honored at the Staff Excellence Awards ceremony on September 30 in the UC Rotunda. We'll try to circle back with some pictures from the celebration. But for now, join us in congratulating them.

09/01/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Craig Hadley (Cohort 27) for being named to the American Alliance of Museum's first Leadership Academy!

Click the link for more details…👇🏼

Have a career update, please let us know!

For Immediate Release New executive program equips museum leaders to navigate through change and shape the future of the field. Forty museum leaders selected for inaugural cohort in partnership wit…

08/26/2026

Check out your EDL and Higher Ed EdD faculty getting ready for the new academic year! We had a wonderful departmental retreat at nearby Bucks Run Golf Resort after our opening college-wide meeting.

And, as an added bonus: a StrengthsFinder facilitation by current doctoral student Vernique Jackson! 

If you are wondering about Dr. Jankens not being pictured, just know he is on sabbatical this semester (but still working with doctoral students).

Fall semester begins Monday!

08/24/2026

If you're a current doctoral student planning on defending your dissertation this academic year or seeking IRB approval, our friends in CMU Graduate Studies passed along a workshop invitation and some additional resources that you should know about.

📅 Fall Thesis/Dissertation Workshop: Friday, October 2, 2026, noon-1:00 p.m. via Microsoft Teams. Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/2594440463187?p=qftrJGi9YuJEbuaEMA

Here's a link to a previous dissertation workshop recording: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetingrecap

📄 Thesis & Dissertation Guidelines (just helpful info that's always linked on their site):https://www.cmich.edu/docs/default-source/academic-affairs-division/research-and-graduate-studies/graduate-studies/guidelinesd53989b8-59ba-4034-8be0-09b43f79c952.pdf

📄 Prospectus Guidelines:https://www.cmich.edu/docs/default-source/academic-affairs-division/research-and-graduate-studies/graduate-studies/2024-2025prospectusguidelines.pdf

🎥 Understanding the IRB Workshop Recording (very helpful if you're pursuing IRB approval this year): https://centralmichigan-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/janke1bp_cmich_edu/IQBg5Rb_Fhi2T5x2EKwNhYlOAdpXsFloAwn-Uz-oWvCM91U

08/20/2026

Congratulations Dr. Amy McGinnis (EdD Cohort 11) for this special alumni recognition from Alma College! Click link for full details! 👇🏼

If you have wonderful news to share, let us know!

https://www.alma.edu/news/2026-tartan-award-recipients/

08/17/2026

Let’s hear it for Dr. Greg Foster (EdD Cohort 27), who humbly received Davenport University's 2026 Excellence in Teaching Award! 👏🏻👏🏻

“The Excellence in Teaching Award at Davenport University celebrates faculty who possess exceptional dedication to mentoring and engaging students, demonstrate mastery of effective learning delivery methods, and are recognized experts in their fields.”

Bravo, Dr. Foster!!

08/13/2026

It was a special day in late July as we welcomed Cohort 31 to campus and Cohort 30 back to campus. We also inducted Dr. Foley and Dr. Lubig into the Doctorate of Education Hall of Fame! Congrats to you both and to our cohorts! Click here for the story: 👇🏼

https://www.cmich.edu/news/details/two-alumni-inducted-2026-doctorate-of-education-hall-of-fame

07/30/2026

Congratulations to Cohort 28 graduates Dr. Rula Alnajjar Abuali, Dr. Mollie Trewartha, and Dr. LaVontè Heard, and Dr. Benjamin Jankens who presented at the ICPEL Conference on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas this week.

🔥☝🏼

07/23/2026

📸 Updated Pictures & Descriptions!

So much action in the EHS building last week. Cohort 30 finished EDL800: Qualitative Research Design with Dr. Johnson on Wednesday as part of their second and final in-person cohort experience.

In addition to digging into all things qual, they were joined by Drs. Alex Kappus and Kevin Carmody who shared their dissertation processes and offered lots of wisdom.

While in Mount Pleasant, they completed participant observations at the Beal City school board meeting and casino trivia night!

It’s a special time when an entire cohort joins together in community. Thanks to Cohort 30 for a special week!

07/23/2026

This week Cohort 30 and Cohort 31 were on campus…both are dynamic groups filled with excellent leaders. Cohort 31 had a great time with Dr. B’s Ball Toss! 🤣🤣🤣