About The Program
Our program prepares you for leadership roles that create, maintain and support a sense of belonging, particularly for marginalized populations in schools or education-related organizations. Course topics include historical and current factors that affect schools and leadership; how empathy, trust and bias influence leadership; methods of action research; and using research to engage stakeholders. You will gain skills to mitigate power imbalances by establishing practices that nurture inclusivity and empower communities for social change.
Career Paths
- HR practitioner
- Business director
- Teachers and administrators in K-12 schools
- Staff in education-related nonprofits
- Higher education administrators
At a Glance
Certificate Earned
Certificate in Culturally Responsive Leadership
Credits: 15
Application Semesters and Deadlines
Fall: April 1
Program Modality
Online and in-person*
*A minimum number of students is required to administer an in-person cohort.
Estimated Completion Time
Part-time (1-8 credits): average completion in 3 semesters
Admissions requirements
| Degree: | Semester(s) of entry: | Deadline dates: | Test requirements: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate | Fall | Apr 1 |
In addition to the general admission requirements of the VCU Graduate School, the following requirements represent the minimum acceptable standards for admission:
- Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate discipline
- Two letters of recommendation addressing the student’s potential for graduate study in education
- Statement of intent
- Transcripts of all previous college work
- Resume or curriculum vitae
Please visit the School of Education website for further information.
Degree requirements
In addition to general VCU Graduate School graduation requirements, students are required to complete course work in core courses.
- Credit hour requirements: Students are required to complete a minimum of 15 credit hours.
- Grade requirements: Receipt of a grade of C or below in two courses constitutes automatic dismissal from the program. Courses with a grade below C cannot be used to satisfy degree requirements.
Curriculum requirements
| Course | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ADMS 655 ADMS 655. Student-Centered Policy and Collaboration. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. Students will explore the school/community ecology to understand the influences on and the potential for a more equity-oriented and culturally relevant K12 public education system. Students will explore the role of public K12 governance and advocacy for policy change, cross-sector collaboration and social entrepreneurship to increase their knowledge and application of the skills and conditions needed to advance equity, opportunity and achievement. The course will focus on organizational and community leadership that values stakeholders as equal partners to improve decision-making and policy oriented toward student success, particularly for historically marginalized populations. | Student-Centered Policy and Collaboration | 3 |
| ADMS 656 ADMS 656. Human Dimensions of Leadership: Empathy, Trust and Care in Organizations. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. Effective, culturally responsive and sustaining leadership practices and approaches are grounded in humanistic relationship management with a clear understanding of human behavior and social processes. This course is about people in education-related organizations. It is designed to help leaders incorporate human dimensions of leadership focused on empathy, trust and care in organizational and community-based leadership. Course content is derived from contemporary theory, research and practice in educational, community-based and organizational behavior and leadership such as organizational theory and management; community cultural wealth; ecological/systems theory/models; community theories (sense of community, social capital, environmental psychology); and critical social and race theory, social justice and social determinants of well-being. | Human Dimensions of Leadership: Empathy, Trust and Care in Organizations | 3 |
| ADMS 657 ADMS 657. Educational Leadership and Civil Rights. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. This course will examine the evolution of civil rights in the U.S. educational system from historical, legal, policy and social science perspectives. Students will explore the grassroots organizing that supports landmark civil rights victories, as well as leadership across crucial spheres such as law and policy. The purpose of the course is to develop students’ understanding of how key civil rights principles have been advanced and contested in schools. The class will do this with an ultimate goal of developing leadership capacity to respond to contemporary civil rights challenges related to education. | Educational Leadership and Civil Rights | 3 |
| ADMS 658 ADMS 658. Community-Based Action Research for Education Stakeholders. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. This course introduces students to a research approach that engages school and/or community stakeholders. The course focuses on action-based research designs with a thoughtful and critical focus on community-based participatory action research and related approaches, such as participatory action research, youth participatory action research and community-engaged research. The course will explore this work as it occurs in school- and community-based settings, as well as within research-practice partnerships. Collectively, these approaches offer students not just a set of methods, but seek to equip them with the skills and insights to fundamentally change the relationship between researchers and research participants and the power dynamics of the knowledge production process. The course attends to the following questions: How can research help with addressing real-world problems in education? How can data collection and knowledge creation through praxis be participatory in a truly democratized, co-owned and emancipatory process? And, how can educational stakeholders use action research as a means to transcend disciplinary boundaries in order to positively impact social and educational change? Crosslisted as: EDUS 658. | Community-Based Action Research for Education Stakeholders | 3 |
| ADMS 659 ADMS 659. Leadership in the “New Demography”: Immigration Theory and Politics. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. As schools and communities experience significant demographic shifts, it is critically important for school and community-based leaders to interrogate the history, theories, politics and debates of immigration, particularly in relation to U.S. schooling and education. Doing so requires an examination of competing theories of race, immigration and identity, as well as notions of transnationalism, integration and citizenship. This course considers these issues from a culturally responsive lens with a keen focus on schools and communities. | Leadership in the “New Demography”: Immigration Theory and Politics | 3 |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
The minimum number of graduate credit hours required for this certificate is 15.
The VCU Bulletin is the official source for academic course and program information.