All Ed.D. Core and Research Courses are Quality Matters Certified

All of University of Findlay’s Doctorate of Education core and research courses have been Quality Matters certified. “Quality Matters is an international organization based here in the United States that looks at online courses and programs and reviews them and then can potentially certify them. Every single one of the thirteen courses that the Ed.D. Program submitted for Quality Matters certification have now been approved,” stated John C. Gillham, Ed.D., associate professor of education and chair of the Doctor of Education Program.

“Our Doctorate of Education Program exists entirely online and our student’s computer screens are their entire world. Therefore, we wanted to make sure we could offer students a high-quality online experience and one of the ways to do that was to put our courses up for Quality Matters certification,” mentioned Gillham. “When courses have the Quality Matters certification, that is a sign that you can be assured you’re getting a high-quality online experience.” Additionally, when online programs adhere to the standards of the QM rubric, it results in tremendous consistency in course design overall. This consistency translates into a seamless experience for the online students as they move from course to course in a program.

“Quality Matters has eight general standards and each general standard has up to nine specific review standards,” said Gillham. “Those review standards are very particular; Quality Matters looks at everything in the course. For example, the organization assesses if the course objectives align with the module objectives, if the module objectives align with the learning activities, and etc. It also evaluates if the course is accessible to people with special needs and if it’s well organized and readable.”

It took College of Education faculty members three and a half years to get all of the Ed.D. classes certified. “I don’t think you’re going to find an online Doctorate of Education anywhere that has all of their courses Quality Matters certified. It’s a huge accomplishment for us, we are very proud, and I am very grateful for the faculty who have worked so hard to and rose to the challenge,” said Gillham. However, this is only the beginning, as both the Master of Business Administration, as well as the Master of Arts in Education, plan to seek QM certification for the core courses in these graduate degree programs.

To learn more about the College of Education’s Doctorate of Education Program, visit the Doctorate of Education Program webpage, or contact the Office of Admissions at 419-434-4732 or admissions@findlay.edu.