Albany offers new degree
December 15 , 2006
On Jan. 17, LaGrange College at Albany will begin offering graduate-level courses as part of a new degree program that will provide students the opportunity to earn a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership.
“We spent a lot of time examining all the factors involved in starting a master’s program at Albany, and there was a consensus that a need was there and that LaGrange College was in position to help satisfy that need,” said Dr. Jay Simmons, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean.
In the spring of 2005, the College faculty and board of trustees approved a plan to offer the new degree, and last month, school officials received word from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools that the new offering had been accredited.
The master’s degree will be awarded to students who successfully complete the 18-month curriculum, with the first cohort completing its coursework in July ’08 and graduating during the May ’09 ceremony.
The new program will build on the success of Albany’s undergraduate degree-completion program, which has offered a bachelor’s degree with a major in organizational leadership since 2000.
“Even from our very first group of bachelor’s degree students, we were getting calls about the possibility of offering a master’s degree,” said Dr. Charles Thompson, Associate Dean and Director of LaGrange College at Albany. “This program will allow students to continue along the same track, but will be an expansion over what we are currently doing.”
He added that a search would soon commence for a Director of Graduate Studies, who will oversee the new program and be responsible for recruiting faculty and students.
“We hope to make that hire early in ’07,” he said.
In the interim, Dr. Thompson said that he and his staff have begun recruiting new students.
“We’ve had two information sessions,” he said. “For this January start, we are recruiting primarily, but not exclusively, among our own graduates from the undergraduate program.”
For more information about Albany’s new program, call (229) 420-8000.
