Courtesy of Edward Waters University
Last week Edward Waters University (EWU) received formal notification from its accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), authorizing the university to offer a new graduate master’s degree (M.A.) in Education Policy and Advocacy. As such, the university plans to begin enrolling students in this exciting new graduate academic degree program beginning this coming August in fall 2022. Given the dynamic shifts in global policies and pedagogical frameworks throughout both the K-12 and higher educational sectors both locally and nationally, EWU is confident that this new program will fill a particularly growing need for trained educational policy makers and influencers who will shape the present and future of American education.
In particular, the new graduate M.A. in Education Policy and Advocacy (MEPA) is a 100% online 36 credit-hour degree program that can be completed in as little as twelve months. Completion of the all-new MEPA program will help fortify and empower intergenerational leaders for positions of responsibility as K-12 administrative policy influencers, higher education administrators & professionals, as well as leaders in educational non-profit and for-profit sectors.
“As a second generation educator, I am pleased to advance the development of this new interdisciplinary degree at Edward Waters University as a deliberate step in our strategic focus on producing of minority thought leaders, national advocates and committed public servants who are intellectually prepared to employ culturally relevant strategies that address contemporary issues in communities around the world”, said Edward Waters University’s inaugural Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Education, Dr. Walter T. Tillman Jr.
Traditionally, fields of education have held a strong interest amongst EWU students and the university has in past years produced remarkably effective and impactful educators throughout the state of Florida and beyond. Accordingly, the university’s faculty and administration resolved to develop this new market relevant stand-alone graduate degree program in education policy and advocacy to further expand EWU’s academic profile and meet student demand while simultaneously supporting future enrollment growth.
“The transformation and ascendancy of Edward Waters University continues with the promulgation and subsequent approval by SACSCOC of our second graduate degree program—the Masters of Education Policy and Advocacy—in just the last year,” said Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr., EWU president and CEO.
“We are excited and brimming with anticipation concerning this new cutting-edge graduate degree program of study that will produce strong educational policy making advocates that serve and support the needs of our nation’s primary, secondary, and college/university students,” President Faison said.
The Master of Arts in Education Policy and Advocacy (MEPA) will utilize an interdisciplinary and culturally relevant approach to prepare educational advocates and non-educational leaders as change agents for leadership in sundry contexts. Traditional and contemporary theory, technology and experiential learning are collectively employed to give students pursuing the Education Policy and Advocacy degree a holistic and innovative perspective.
“Introducing this new program contributes to EWU’s goal of enhancing the university’s academic profile by comprehensively inaugurating a competitive 21st century curriculum into our institution,” Dr. Donna H. Oliver, the Provost of EWU as well as the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs added. “Given EWU’s past longstanding presence in education as a program of study, I as a career educator am excited to see our institution now reclaim its space as a continuing producer of high-quality educational professionals,” Provost Oliver said.
