Dissertation Completion in Educational Leadership: Program Structure, Collaboration, and Experiences

Doctoral education and dissertation completion represent demanding and defining stages of academic life, shaped by program structures, collaborative relationships, and lived experiences. While doctoral programs cultivate advanced research and critical thinking skills, variations in advising models, funding stability, and curricular design can influence students' ability to progress and finish their dissertations. Collaboration with advisors, peers, and broader scholarly communities often sustains momentum and fosters intellectual growth. Exploring these dynamics highlights how institutional design and interpersonal experiences intersect to shape doctoral outcomes, revealing the need for more intentional, supportive, and equitable approaches to doctoral training. Dissertation Completion in Educational Leadership: Program Structure, Collaboration, and Experiences explores how doctoral program structures, advising relationships, and collaborative environments influence students' progress and success in completing their dissertations. It examines the ways individual experiences, institutional support systems, and access to resources shape doctoral outcomes and educational trajectories. This book covers topics such as research methods, skill development, and career development, and is a useful resource for educators, academicians, researchers, and scientists.

Daniel Teodorescu is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Accreditation and Professor of Higher Education at the Clark Atlanta (CAU) University School of Education. With over 29 years of experience in higher education, he has held leadership roles in evaluation, assessment, and institutional research at institutions such as NJIT, College of Charleston, Emory University, Hunter College, Reinhardt University, and CAU. A tenured professor at CAU, Daniel has authored over 90 articles, book chapters, and conference presentations. His research interests include accreditation, program evaluation, faculty productivity, adaptive learning systems, and HBCU students in STEM majors. He has served as evaluator for federal grants awarded to CAU from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Daniel holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration & Policy Studies from the State University of New York at Albany. He has taught program evaluation, quantitative methods, and research design courses at Reinhardt University, Penn State, and CAU, and has led re-accreditation efforts at three universities. He has taught program evaluation, quantitative research and research design courses at Reinhardt University, Pennsylvania State University, and Clark Atlanta University and led the re-accreditation efforts at three higher education institutions. Daniel has authored more than 90 articles, book chapters, and conference presentations in the field of higher education research and served as the editor of a New Directions for Institutional Research volume on Geographic Information Systems in higher education and as an assistant editor for the Comparative Education Review. At Clark Atlanta University, he served as Co-Principal Investigator for three grants aimed at increasing STEM graduation rates for African-American students.