Doctoral (DBA)
DBA Quality Systems Management
DBA Homeland Security & Defense
DBA Environmental Policy & Quality Management
Overview
National Graduate School Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Degree programs are designed to provide advanced graduate-level instruction to working adults whose organizations may be enhanced by tangible applications of Quality Systems Management principles.
NGS/U students come from diverse sectors such as the aerospace and science industries, public service, and the military. They represent such varied occupations as engineering, finance, and continuous quality improvement. As working scholars, they share a common aim: to lead and innovate through process improvement by creating original approaches to enduring problems.
Since its founding in 1993, The National Graduate School remains as the nation’s only accredited institution whose every program includes the core principles of Quality Systems Management. In addition to its Bachelor of Science and Masters-level degree programs, NGS/U offers doctoral degrees in the following:
- Quality Systems Management
- Homeland Security & Defense
- Environmental Policy and Quality Management
Degree programs are delivered In-Residence, Online, and via a combination of the two called Blended Learning. Resident courses are offered face-to-face, typically at or near the workplace of students, either one night per week, Saturday’s only, or entire weekends. The Online format enables students to complete all degree requirements from the comfort of their homes of places of work. Blended Learning combines the convenience of virtual (online) learning with in-class sessions to complete selected courses.
DBA Program Length & Curricula
The NGS/U doctoral program is offered in two phases. The first requires the completion of 16 courses as well as the identification of a Doctoral Project. Phase two encompasses an intensive six-month period of project validation and results verification under the close supervision of a Faculty Doctoral Team. Doctoral Program faculty members assist students in selecting projects that have senior-level support from organizations at which they are either employed or sponsored. The Doctoral program will typically be completed within 24 months; however, project extensions will be granted when necessary.
Two unique aspects distinguish NGS/U doctoral program from most others. Foremost is the substitution of a significant work-related project for the conventional Dissertation. Such projects demonstrate substantial process improvements that facilitate noteworthy outcomes and afford enterprise-wide visibility. Additionally, students will be mentored through NGS/U teaching assignments by a Senior Faculty Supervisor and guided through action research activities that produce a document to be published in a refereed journal. As a result, NGS/U Doctoral Program graduates will leave the institution in possession of both the graduate-level teaching and publication experience necessary to qualify for positions at the highest levels of their respective fields.
...From Leadership
...I can see the effects that a results oriented curriculum, like NGS/U offers, can have on an organization. NGS/U should be commended for putting together a curriculum that not only promotes academic achievements, but also provides a real return to the organizations that choose to invest in their people.
--Leland Williams, Director of Quality [Ret.], Boeing Aerospace
...From Students
Almost immediately I was able to employ the tools for process re-design to set up the analytical steps toward developing a National Maritime Security Plan.
The Degree Program
Doctor of Business Administration – Quality Systems Management (DBAQSM)
The degree responds to the call from NGS/U graduates and other experienced practitioners to seek an advanced terminal credential that matches the dynamic growth in Quality Systems knowledge. The program attracts working adults who wish to demonstrably enhance the organizational and operational effectiveness of the institutions with which they are affiliated. Eligible doctoral candidates will possess a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university as well as experience in a field that can benefit from the application of Quality Systems Management.
Doctor of Business Administration – Homeland Security & Defense (DBAHSD)
The program is designed to prepare leaders and practitioners to tangibly improve processes related to homeland security and defense. The curricula blends knowledge of contemporary theory with practical applications through thoroughly researched and competently applied doctoral projects.
Classes now enrolling. Limited acceptance policy in effect. Please visit our website - www.ngs.edu/DBA
The Doctoral Project
“Success You Can Measure”
As our university motto implies above, NGS/U doctoral program prepares students to realize effective outcomes that can be both quantified and documented. Because the Doctoral Project replaces the conventional Dissertation, that endeavor will meet – or even exceed – the standards of academic rigor customary in most terminal degree programs. Recognized, experienced experts in the various disciplines, supported by doctoral-level faculty members and administrators, will mentor and support candidates throughout the learning process to ensure that the Project both achieves a measurable outcome and positively contributes to the respective body of knowledge.
As is customary in all National Graduate School degree programs, prospective graduates will be required to orally present the results of their projects before Senior Champions, and members of Guiding Coalitions.
Such events are accomplished in the presence of CEO’s and organizational leaders at sponsoring organizations that derive benefit from the outcomes of each project.
Theory Into Practice
Throughout the course of study, students directly link what they learn in a particular course to the advancement of the Doctoral Project. Regularly scheduled “in-progress-reviews” are arranged with Sponsors, Champions and the Faculty Team to help steer the Project to a successful conclusion.
Measurable Results
The Project must yield tangible, quantifiable results. Doctoral Projects have pre-established “performance measures” that are significant and highly visible in the value stream of the students’ sponsoring organization. Typically, Projects yield more than a ten-to-one (10:1+) Return On Investment (ROI) on the student tuition investment.
NGS/U projects improve the world of work, one process, one system, one organization at a time.