DSU Commencement features first Ed.D. grads from Jamaican program

If the 2024 Graduate Commencement Ceremony on May 10 is any indication, the Educational Leadership Program established by DSU in Jamaica has turned out to be a successful international endeavor for the First State’s only Historically Black University.

The Graduate Commencement—held in the Dr. William B. DeLauder E&H Theatre—featured Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness as its keynote speaker and 19 Jamaicans who traveled DSU to participate in the Commencement Ceremony and publicly receive their Doctor of Educational Leadership degree (Ed.D.).

In total – including those who did not make the trip for the ceremony – 38 Jamaicans completed their Educational Leadership degree programs (two M.Ed. degrees and 36 Ed.D. degrees) over the 2023-2024 school year. In the previous academic year, the first five Jamaican graduates of the Master’s of Educational Leadership received their diplomas

DSU began offering its master’s and doctoral degree programs in Educational Leadership in the fall of 2020. Since then, the DSU online degree programs have attracted students from diverse backgrounds.

Dr. Marlon Singleton said the opportunity to earn an international doctoral degree was attractive to her. She added that she was not discouraged because it was offered online.

“Although the program is offered online, it is really virtual face-to-face,” Dr. Singleton said. “I was able to do a face-to-face program because all of our interactions were with competent doctors, lecturers, and professors with whom we could interact. I would recommend it to anyone else.”

Dr. Singleton said the Ed.D. knowledge she has attained will help her in her leadership post in the Jamaican Ministry of Education and Youth.

“What I have garnered will assist me in carrying out those duties and functions in terms of leadership and I will be able to apply what I learned from the research I conducted,” she said. “The Educational Leadership Program gives me a lot of groundings to apply to my day-to-day education leadership at the Ministry of Education.

Dr. Daniel Dawes heads the Universal Service Fund in the Jamaican Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications, and Transport. He said he has no regrets about enrolling in the program.

“It certainly added value to my leadership competencies.” Dr. Dawes said. “I am also the Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Master of Public Health and the NSC in Nursing at the University of Technology. This Ed.D. provides me the tools to apply to my academic engagement.”

Dr. Malvis Aranda Ruiz-Morris is a native of Cuba, where she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education. She was recruited to come to Jamaica, where she has taught college Spanish at Shortwood Teachers College.

She said completing her Ed.D. in 2023 has inspired her to write on higher education. “I have already published two articles in peer-reviewed magazines,” Dr. Ruiz-Morris said. “I have so much information. I have a folder with all of my doctoral assignments, which I can now convert into articles. I want to become more active in research.”

Dr. Stephanie Mullings completed her Ed.D. in 2023. While working on her doctorate, she was the Program Director for the Pharmacy Bachelor’s Degree Program at Jamaica’s University of Technology. Now, she is looking to establish a training institute for single women.

“There are a lot of single women who aspire to leadership. However, there is a fear as to whether they will succeed,” Dr. Mullings said. “It is through this institute that I will be able to influence, motivate, and help to upscale persons who are single and desire to be in leadership.”

Ingrid Blackwood, a self-employed entrepreneur, at first did not think that the Master of Educational Leadership Program was for her, because she is not an educator.

“However, I was told that it is not just about being a school administrator, but that I can use leadership in whatever career I am pursuing,” said Ms. Blackwood, who completed the M.Ed. in 2022. “It makes me more marketable and it has groomed me to be a better leader.”

Dr. Althea Newell Morrison completed her Ed.D. in 2023. She currently works as a Strategic Planning Manager at Caribbean Maritime University but believes that her Educational Leadership Doctorate helped create higher career possibilities—much higher than she previously thought possible.

“One day when I was at church, I heard the pastor say, ‘Sometimes you are asking for something that God doesn’t really want to give you. You need to think of something higher,’” she recounted. “And I said to myself, I think I need to become a university president. It is a possibility. I think if I work hard enough, I will achieve it.”

In addition to the Educational Leadership Program, DSU has established a Master of Business Administration Program for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (the country’s primary law enforcement agency). DSU also offers Jamaican students the opportunity to pursue associate degree programs in Liberal Studies, Biological Sciences, Social Work, and Psychology.

Dr. Morrison’s daughter Athalia is pursuing an associate’s degree in Biological Sciences. “I want to do medicine, but I am still trying to decide what field I want to jump into,” Athalia said. “It might be pediatrics.”