What You Can Do With an EdD in Organizational Leadership: Five Real-World Projects That Move the Needle

K–12 Leadership: Supporting and Retaining New Teachers

1. The Project: Retaining teachers, especially those who are early in their careers as educators, is a pressing challenge in K–12 schools. An EdD-prepared leader could spearhead a mentorship program refresh, introducing new evaluation rubrics for coaching quality and providing structured support to first-year teachers.
2. The Role: Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning.
3. The Metrics That Matter: Teacher retention, job satisfaction, and classroom readiness.
4. How Regis Prepares You: Research shows that induction and coaching programs are critical for new teacher success. Regis students can ground projects like this in both scholarly research and inclusive leadership practices, ensuring that solutions address equity as well as outcomes.

“What I like about our program is it's very relevant, applicable,” says Lauren Bent, Associate Professor in the EdD in Higher Education Leadership program at Regis College. “We have students identify problems of practice…real problems that they are seeing in their own places of work, their own industries, and [that] they can use the skills they learn in their research courses, in their leadership courses at Regis, to deeply explore the problem [using] both leadership skills and research.”

Higher Education: Rethinking Student Success Initiatives

1. The Project: Student retention has become a defining challenge for almost all colleges and universities. Leaders with an EdD are equipped to design evidence-based initiatives that improve persistence. For example, one common project involves behavioral “nudges” in gateway courses to help students stay on track. This might include orientation redesigns, micro-grant programs, or peer mentorship structures.
2. The Role: Associate Vice President of Student Retention
3. The Metrics That Matter: Drop/Fail/Withdraw (DFW) rates; graduation rates, fall-to-spring persistence.
4. How Regis Prepares You: Regis integrates improvement science frameworks (like PDSA cycles and Kotter’s eight-Step Change Model) into its curriculum, giving students the tools to test and scale interventions. Through the Dissertation in Practice (DiP), learners conduct mixed-method evaluations of initiatives in their own institutions.

As Bent explains, “Seventy-five percent of the time, we’re solving the wrong problem. Our program teaches leaders to deeply explore challenges, engage multiple stakeholders, and design solutions that last.”

Healthcare: Improving Patient and Staff Experience

1. The Project: Hospitals across the country prioritize patient satisfaction and staff safety. One high-impact initiative may involve implementing de-escalation training for frontline staff to reduce workplace violence and burnout. These programs can be evaluated through quasi-experimental designs that track pre/post outcomes.
2. The Role: Director of Patient Experience
3. The Metrics That Matter: Patient satisfaction (measured through HCAHPS), staff turnover, burnout scores, and incident reports.
4. How Regis Prepares You: Coursework in problem solving and applied research prepares students at Regis to not only implement training but also measure its impact using both qualitative and quantitative data.

Bent points out that many Regis students come from helping professions—nurses, social workers, therapists—who want to expand their leadership impact: “We see people graduate and move into different industries. They’re able to take what they’ve learned and apply it whether in healthcare, nonprofits, or education.”

Nonprofits: Making Your Mission Measurable

1. The Project: Nonprofit leaders often face immense pressure to prove their impact to donors and boards. An EdD-prepared leader might design a Nonprofit Impact Dashboard that integrates grant language, cost-per-outcome data, and donor retention metrics.
2. The Role: Executive Director or COO
3. The Metrics That Matter: Donor retention rates, cost-per-outcome, and program participation data.
4. How Regis Prepares You: Regis students learn to stand up measurement frameworks and communicate results effectively. The program emphasizes both technical and human aspects of leadership—helping leaders balance the data with storytelling that motivates donors.

Bent shares the story of a recent graduate who moved from higher education into the nonprofit world, leading Catholic Charities of Boston. Her dissertation focused on digital engagement—a skill set that translated seamlessly to nonprofit leadership. “Technology changes the way we engage communities,” says Bent. “Our graduates are learning how to adapt and lead in that context.”

Government Leadership: Designing Smarter Public Services

1. The Project: Citizens increasingly expect government services to be as seamless as commercial ones. One project an EdD-prepared leader might champion is a “One Front Door” permitting system, where residents can navigate permits, licenses, and approvals through a single digital portal.
2. The Role: Chief Innovation Officer, City Government.
3. The Metrics That Matter: Time-to-permit, adoption of digital tools, and resident satisfaction.
4. How Regis Prepares You: Students enrolled at Regis practice diagnosing complex systems and leading interdepartmental change. Through coursework in organizational theory, executive communication, and inclusive leadership, they’re trained to translate broad policy goals into measurable outcomes.

Why These Projects Matter

The ability to make an immediate impact in your role is paramount for professionals looking to showcase their leadership skills. The value of an EdD is that skills and capabilities can be utilized across industries and in a variety of roles, inside and outside of education. That’s because certain themes stand out:

• Problem-solving: Whether addressing student retention or patient safety, Regis students learn to tackle “wicked problems” that don’t have simple fixes.
• Adaptability: Industries evolve. Politics shift. Technologies advance. In response, leaders need to be nimble, capable of adjusting to the changing landscape.
• Career mobility: Graduates aren’t confined to one sector and, thus, have the capability to move depending on market shifts or personal preferences. Whether it’s at a high school or City Hall, EdD-prepared professionals can apply what they’ve learned to numerous professions.

Why Regis College?

Regis College’s program is fully online, delivered in a cohort model, and includes virtual Saturday sessions four times per semester. The program typically takes about 36 months, with a 96% completion rate—far higher than the national average for doctoral programs.

And through the Dissertation in Practice, students don’t just study theory, they apply research to their own workplace problems, producing actionable solutions.

“Our students are scholarly practitioners—leaders who are change agents, strategic decision makers, and problem solvers,” says Bent. “They’re learning to address wicked problems across industries, from healthcare to higher education to nonprofits.”

“Our students identify real problems in their workplaces and use the skills they learn at Regis to respond and lead change,” she continued. “It’s about making a positive impact from day one.”

Moving the Needle in Your Career

An EdD in Organizational Leadership isn’t just about advancing your career—it’s about equipping yourself to lead projects that matter. Whether you’re transforming how students succeed in higher ed, improving patient care, or building stronger nonprofits, the degree gives you both the mindset and the methods to create measurable change.

Projects like the five outlined here aren’t just possible with an EdD—they’re expected.

Ready to take the next step?

Request more information about Regis College’s EdD in Leadership program or, if you’re set to move forward, start your application process now.