2024-2025 Graduate Catalog

College of Education - General Information

Lee Vartanian, PhD - Dean

The current listings of Faculty and Staff in the College of Education and Faculty and Staff in the University Library can be found on the Athens State University website.

The mission of the College of Education is to prepare knowledgeable, collaborative, reflective educators.

Program objectives for the Master of Education with a major in Career and Technical Education include:

Address the growing regional, national, and worldwide demand for career and technical educators that possess the skills needed to function in a borderless environment.
Provide advanced opportunities for individuals to enhance professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions in career and technical education teaching and training without having to relocate.
Prepare individuals to develop and evaluate curricula and training materials in response to business and industry needs.
Prepare professionals with advanced knowledge, skills and abilities to effectively apply learning theory and research to practice.
Development committed and reflective professionals who contribute to the enhancement of teaching and training.
Prepare professionals who demonstrate sensitivity and effective interpersonal skills in working with culturally diverse populations.

Graduates of the M.Ed. with a major in Career and Technical Education program will be able to:

Demonstrate advanced knowledge of career and technical education philosophies, concepts, and methodologies using literature and personal experience.
Conduct and communicate workplace research as it relates to and informs the field of career and technical education.
Demonstrate advanced professional writing, communication and presentation skills.
Understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
Plan, market, administer, and evaluate a wide range of training and educational programs.
Design and implement training aids and curriculum using andragogy/pedagogy and methodology that meet the needs of diverse learners.
Serve adult students, colleagues, industries, and communities as expert educator sand trainers.
Facilitate 21^st century learning through progressive instruction, various learning designs and strategies, assessment, and the growing use of technology.
Develop technology-based assignments that ensure real-world knowledge and immediate application on the job.

Program objectives for the Master of Education with a major in Training and Development include:

Developing systems-based learning environments focused on performance improvement.
Apply theoretical and practical knowledge to instructional processes for varied learners in a range of settings.
Prepare students with the theoretical and practical knowledge essential to developing effective training programs.
Apply appropriate instructional strategies and techniques to facilitate adult learning.
Instill the ethical and professional values essential to work within the field of education, training and development.
Apply practical experiences to the development of learning tools and environments.
Practice lifelong learning and continuous professional improvement and renewal.
Analyze current and desired organizational performance and identify gaps in performance and their root causes using various model and the principles of systems thinking.
Identify appropriate instructional and non-instructional interventions, aligned with identified gaps in performance and organizational constraints.
Design, develop, implement and manage the change process associated with the integration of instructional and non-instructional interventions in organization settings.
Envision, design, and deliver learning experiences and/or design projects.
Determine the aims, specifications, and scope of work.
Evaluate, document and improve learning designs.

Graduates of the M.Ed. with a major in Training and Development program will have potential career prospects in the following job markets:

Training & Performance Specialist
Organizational Development Specialist
Instructional Designer
Training Manager
Learning & Talent Development Specialist
Director or Learning and Development
Learning Program Manager
Talent Development Consultant
Director of Change Management
eLearning Specialist
Training Lead
Content Development Manager
Talent Manager
Talent Development Architect
Learning Technology Manager
Learning Specialist
Performance Improvement Specialist
Instructional Design Specialist

Admission Requirements for the Master of Education Program in the College of Education

(See also the General University requirements for admission.)

Requirements for Degree-Seeking Students

For unconditional admission, a prospective student must:

Have earned a bachelor’s degree from an institution accredited by an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education AND have a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale).

For conditional admission, a prospective student must:

Have earned a bachelor’s degree from an institution accredited by an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education AND have a minimum overall GPA of 2.5 (4.0 scale); a GPA conditional exemption may be granted to a student that has a minimum overall GPA of 2.30-2.49 (4.0 scale).

A student admitted on conditional status will be admitted on academic probation. Conditional status will be removed only upon successful completion of a minimum of 9 semester hours of graduate coursework at Athens State with a minimum GPA of 3.0. Students admitted on a GPA conditional exemption will follow the same conditional status requirements.

Requirements for Non-Degree Seeking Students

A student who does not meet the requirements for one of the above admission categories as a degree-seeking graduate student may be admitted as a non-degree seeking graduate student. Records are kept of the work completed and credits are transferable. Non-degree seeking graduate students are ineligible for federal aid funding under Title IV.

Students seeking admission as non-degree seeking students must:

Submit a completed graduate non-degree seeking admissions application and pay any required application fees.
Submit official transcripts from the last institution attended, and from at least one institution accredited by an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education documenting conferral of a bachelor’s or higher degree. Official transcripts must indicate that the student is in good standing at the last institution attended.

Students admitted as non-degree seeking students will only be allowed to register for graduate courses in a given term subject to space availability and/or cohort restrictions. Non-degree seeking students may complete no more than one-half of the total program hours; in order to register for additional courses, students must submit a degree-seeking application and all required materials, and be approved for degree-seeking status.

Non-degree seeking students will not be awarded a graduate degree from Athens State University.