Continuing or professional education administrators regularly participate in their university’s degree program approval process, as their schools serve adult learners who desire career-oriented education. Speed and efficiency to market are critical factors in ensuring high-quality, relevant, continuing or professional education programs; however, higher education decision making can be process laden and time consuming. There is limited scholarly research about the institutional factors that constrain and contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the new degree program approval process and its cycle time, even though it plays a critical role in institutional new product development. This phenomenological study foregrounds the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that continuing or professional education administrators have regarding their university’s new degree program approval process and cycle time. The findings advance our understanding of their lived experiences and emphasize that the new degree program approval process performs suboptimally; it is foremost a people-centered process, and governance and organizational autonomy influence its cycle time. Specific recommendations to streamline decision making and increase agility are offered, and suggestions for future research are presented.
","abstract_html":"<p>Continuing or professional education administrators regularly participate in their university’s degree program approval process, as their schools serve adult learners who desire career-oriented education. Speed and efficiency to market are critical factors in ensuring high-quality, relevant, continuing or professional education programs; however, higher education decision making can be process laden and time consuming. There is limited scholarly research about the institutional factors that constrain and contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the new degree program approval process and its cycle time, even though it plays a critical role in institutional new product development. This phenomenological study foregrounds the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that continuing or professional education administrators have regarding their university’s new degree program approval process and cycle time. The findings advance our understanding of their lived experiences and emphasize that the new degree program approval process performs suboptimally; it is foremost a people-centered process, and governance and organizational autonomy influence its cycle time. Specific recommendations to streamline decision making and increase agility are offered, and suggestions for future research are presented.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bova, Erica Wilke"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Higher Education Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Bettyjo Bouchey"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z","subjects":["new degree program approval process","cycle time","lean methodology","Deming","career-oriented education","new product development","Adult and Continuing Education","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/582","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Bettyjo Bouchey"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bova, Erica Wilke"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-07-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Higher Education Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["new degree program approval process","cycle time","lean methodology","Deming","career-oriented education","new product development","Adult and Continuing Education","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/582"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Continuing or professional education administrators regularly participate in their university’s degree program approval process, as their schools serve adult learners who desire career-oriented education. Speed and efficiency to market are critical factors in ensuring high-quality, relevant, continuing or professional education programs; however, higher education decision making can be process laden and time consuming. There is limited scholarly research about the institutional factors that constrain and contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the new degree program approval process and its cycle time, even though it plays a critical role in institutional new product development. This phenomenological study foregrounds the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that continuing or professional education administrators have regarding their university’s new degree program approval process and cycle time. The findings advance our understanding of their lived experiences and emphasize that the new degree program approval process performs suboptimally; it is foremost a people-centered process, and governance and organizational autonomy influence its cycle time. Specific recommendations to streamline decision making and increase agility are offered, and suggestions for future research are presented.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Institutional Factors That Prolong The New Degree Program Approval Lifecycle: Insights From Continuing And Professional Education Administrators In Higher Education"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Bettyjo Bouchey"],"dc:creator":["Bova, Erica Wilke"],"dc:date.available":["2021-07-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Continuing or professional education administrators regularly participate in their university’s degree program approval process, as their schools serve adult learners who desire career-oriented education. Speed and efficiency to market are critical factors in ensuring high-quality, relevant, continuing or professional education programs; however, higher education decision making can be process laden and time consuming. There is limited scholarly research about the institutional factors that constrain and contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the new degree program approval process and its cycle time, even though it plays a critical role in institutional new product development. This phenomenological study foregrounds the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that continuing or professional education administrators have regarding their university’s new degree program approval process and cycle time. The findings advance our understanding of their lived experiences and emphasize that the new degree program approval process performs suboptimally; it is foremost a people-centered process, and governance and organizational autonomy influence its cycle time. Specific recommendations to streamline decision making and increase agility are offered, and suggestions for future research are presented.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/582"],"dc:subject":["new degree program approval process","cycle time","lean methodology","Deming","career-oriented education","new product development","Adult and Continuing Education","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["Institutional Factors That Prolong The New Degree Program Approval Lifecycle: Insights From Continuing And Professional Education Administrators In Higher Education"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Higher Education Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z"}