School District Business Leadership
Post-Master's Advanced Graduate Certificate Program

School districts are similar to small corporations and individuals with strong business skills are highly desired. This post-master's advanced graduate certificate program prepares professionals from the corporate world, public service agencies, and charitable institutions for access and advancement to positions in a school district central office, such as assistant superintendent for school business positions.

The course of study is designed to help candidates acquire content knowledge in the organizational areas that are the foundation for successful practice. They include: leadership, information management, organizational management, interpersonal relations, financial management, technology management, professional development, pupil personnel services, community and media relations, educational law, public policy and systems.

This program combines classroom-based theory with extensive field experience. In addition, there is a rigorous capstone internship required of each student. All candidates for certification must pass a required New York State qualifying test prior to issuance of a license after graduation from this program.

Program of Study
This certificate program consists of 36 credits, distributed among the areas listed below. Credit requirements for each area are indicated below. Please note that the courses are only available to students who are matriculated in the program.

Foundations - 9 credits
CEQ 501 Educational Leadership Theory I
CEQ 502 Educational Leadership Theory II (prerequisite CEQ 501)
CEQ 515 School District Leadership

Required Courses - 15 credits
CEQ 520 School Finance
CEQ 528 School Law
CEQ 571 School Business Administration
CEQ 572 School Personnel Management
CES 514 Collective Bargaining and Arbitration in the Public Sector

Elective - 3 credits (Choose one)
CEQ 530 Use of Computers for School Administrators
CEX 520 Ethics in Management
CEX 547 Topics in Conflict Resolution

Internship and Seminar - 6 credits
Prerequisite: Students must complete a minimum of 27 credits (all foundation and required courses, and an elective) before enrolling in these courses.
CEQ 565 – School Business Internship
CEQ 566 – School Business Internship Seminar

Educational Leadership Research Project Seminar (CEQ 595) - 3 credits
Each student is required to conduct an individual research project on a topic of special academic interest or professional relevance. The topic must be approved by and completed under the direction of the faculty member teaching this course.
Please Note: There are field hours embedded in each course through authentic activities. Assignments will be given that would require collaboration with administrators in a public school district. This is in addition to the full semester and summer portion of the Internship. (The following section will elaborate on this.)

The Internship Experience

The internship is defined as the process and product that result from the application in a workplace environment of the strategic, instructional, organizational and contextual leadership program standards. It is strategically designed to immerse candidates in educational experiences that support and rely upon the information and skills attained from courses taken in the program.

Candidates in the Educational Leadership Programs begin these educational experiences within each course, which enables specific core concepts to be applied to authentic work settings. These clinical internship experiences (CIE) are worth a particular number of hours, which are added to the hours attained during the Professional Internship (PI) occurring at the conclusion of the program. (See “Clinical and Professional Internship Hours” as they are applied to the Internship hours distribution.)

The professional internship (PI) can be accomplished in the following ways:

• Full-time experience for 15 weeks.
• Integrated with the school day during a combined fall and spring semester.
• Integrated with the school day during the summer and adjacent fall semester.
• Integrated with the school day during the spring semester with an adjacent summer.

The professional internship (PI) includes a variety of substantial concurrent or capstone experiences in diverse settings planned and guided cooperatively by university and school district personnel and conducted in schools and school districts over an extended period of time. The experiences need to provide interns with substantial responsibilities, which involve direct interaction and involvement with students, staff, parents, community leaders, and social service organizations involved with inter-agency activities affecting schools.

Students are encouraged to develop a relationship with an Assistant Superintendent for Business or District Business Manager in the school district near where they live or where they are employed. The School of Professional Development can assist you in this effort upon request. The university and the school district each provide a supervisor who assists the intern in the design of an appropriate Internship Proposal. These same university and district officials are then responsible for the implementation, supervision, and evaluation of the intern’s efforts during the internship. (CEQ 565 - SDBL)

Three guiding principles should help focus the internship experience and enable the candidate to become an effective educational business leader.

• The internship should allow for both district and building level school business experiences.
• The internship should allow the candidate to work outside their assigned area.
• The internship should be challenging, allowing the candidate to engage people at all levels of the educational system.

The purpose of the Internship Seminar (CEQ 566 - SDBL) is to facilitate the blending of practical field experiences with academic learning. Attendance at the seminar sessions is mandatory.

Educational leadership candidates have broad opportunities to work with diverse students during the internship because they work in schools and districts that mirror the diversity of the Long Island and New York City regions. Within each placement candidates work to create positive inclusive learning environments for students from all socioeconomic, linguistic, and ethnic groups and of all age and ability levels.

Semesters for Program Completion

Timeline and Scheduling Note
All of the courses required for the School District Business Leadership Certificate are offered regularly during the fall and spring semesters. Although summer session will offer some graduate courses, students should plan on meeting most course requirements during the regular academic year. With this frequency of course offerings, a full-time student will need four semesters to complete the program’s 36 credits and a somewhat longer period will be required for the part-time student. Thirty-six credits are required to complete the program for the School District Business Leader.

Graduation Eligibility
Candidates are eligible for graduation when they have met the published requirements for a degree and/or certificate. To qualify for graduation in any semester, the candidate must have all academic requirements completed by the last day of that semester.

In addition, certificate candidates must:

• Attain at least a 3.00 (B) cumulative grade point average (GPA) for all graduate courses taken at Stony Brook, as well as a 3.00 cumulative GPA for the credits required to earn a degree and/or certificate. Grades earned in transferred courses are not included in any calculation of the cumulative GPA to determine eligibility for graduation.
• Examination Requirement: The School District Business Leader (SDBL) examination is a graduation requirement for any students completing this program after February 1, 2009. It is highly recommended that students delay taking the New York State School Business Leader Certification Examinations until they are fully engaged in the internship experience. The Internship (CEQ 565) and accompanying Seminar (CEQ 566) will provide both practical experience and in-depth test preparation. This experience and preparation is invaluable for the successful completion of the tests. Spring/ Summer interns should plan on registering for the June test and those students in the Summer/ Fall internship should register for the October test.
• Complete all requirements within five years of matriculation.
  

How to Apply
You are expected to have a thorough grounding in a business, finance, or management curriculum. You must possess the intellectual skills for advanced graduate course work (at least a "B" average in prior graduate studies) and, in an essay to be included in the application packet, must display the interest and ability to become an effective administrator.

Students entering the School District Business Leader advanced graduate certificate program MUST have the following for admission: a master's degree (MBA, MS in Management, MS in Finance or Accounting, or MPS with a concentration in Human Resource Management) with a minimum of three years of full-time experience in a corporate setting, public service or charitable institution.

APPLICATION Information

A completed application packet consists of:

• SPD Student Application/Information Sheet.
• Application for Admission to an Advanced Graduate Certificate Program, including the personal essay
• $100 application fee made payable to Stony Brook University.
• Personal essay.
• Three (3) letters of recommendation: One (1) from the CEO, COO or CFO (or his or her designee) and at least two (2) must be from corporate or other supervisory personnel or administrators who have a thorough knowledge of whether you have the temperament and disposition to become an effective school business leader.
• Official transcripts showing completion of one of the following master’s degrees: MBA, MS in Management, MS in Finance or Accounting or the MPS with the Human Resource Management concentration.
• A letter from your employer stating that you have had three (3) years of full-time administrative, supervisory and business-related experience
• Student Health Immunization Form that demonstrates proof of immunity to measles, mumps and rubella in compliance with New York State Public Health Law 2165. The form contains instructions for completion and mailing to Student Health Service.

APPLICATION materials

The application materials are available by clicking the link below. To open these forms for printing, you will need a PDF reader, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.

»Download the School District Business Leader Certificate Application

If you have difficulty downloading any forms, request an application packet via email or call 631.632.7050 (option 3). Please include your name and address in the email request so that we may mail the packet to you.

DEADLINES

• Fall: June 1
• Spring: October 1
• Summer: March 1

When SPD has received your completed application and your official transcript, you will receive written notification about your admission status into the program.

Contact Information
Dr. Robert Moraghan
205 Harriman Hall
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-3379
Email: moraghan@math.sunysb.edu
Telephone: 631.632.7702
FAX: 631.632.9487

Statement of Student Responsibility
Students themselves—whether new, returning, or continuing—are responsible for reviewing, understanding, and adhering to their degree and/or certificate program requirements. (SPD’s Non-matriculating (non-degree) Graduate Students [GSP] are responsible for adhering to the guidelines related to non-matriculated status.) All SPD students are responsible for reviewing, understanding, and complying with University and SPD regulations, policies, and procedures, as described in all official publications, the University website, and the SPD website, including, but not limited to, SPD’s online references, the SPD Student Handbook and SPD Academic Calendar.