I have just been accepted into what is called a Doctor of the University in Theology program at Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Christian University (located in both Vienna, Austria and Miami, Florida). My supervisor for the program is Dr. Craig Paterson (PhD, St. Louis University). It should take about a year to complete. Below I will copy and paste JHPCU’s description of the degree and its requirements. Very excited about this!
Doctor of the University by Assessment
Degree Requirements The Degree of Doctor of the University (D.Univ.) by Assessment is awarded by the University. D.Univ. candidates are assessed via a process built around prior experiential learning through professional experience. The D.Univ. process involves the submission of a portfolio of evidence and supporting documents for evaluation by a committee, which then assesses an individual’s work experience, skills, and competencies. If the candidate is approved, they they are awarded the degree with appropriate concentration.A DUniv as offered by JHPCU is a type of doctoral award that typically focuses on practical applications of a particular field. As such it is not an honorary award but an earned one and carries the same academic weight as other earned awards. The degree is available in any of the university’s possible subject areas:
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- ministry,
- counseling,
- theology,
- education,
- administration,
- music,
- fine arts,
- media communications,
- social work and or spiritual counseling
- interdisciplinary practice
Candidacy for the doctoral degree is available to (a) JHPCU faculty; (b) graduates of JHPCU; (c) faculty and master’s level graduates of approved Affiliated Institutions; (d) exceptionally, to externals granted JHPCU master’s status. A period of 4 years, at least, must have lapsed between graduation at the master’s level and an application for candidacy. If the portfolio detailing the submitted corpus of works fails to satisfy the examiners, the candidate may be awarded an M.Univ. in the relevant discipline.
The process to apply for the D.Univ. is;
1. Informally contact and submit a resume and copies of qualifications for pre-recognition;
2. If recognized submit application and pay Registration Fee at 0 credit hours;
3. Submission of a substantial portfolio demonstrating the nature of the sustained contribution to learning made by the candidate with assessment fee;
4. Where successfully awarded payment of graduation fee.
Examples of suitable materials for submission may include, but are not limited to:
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- Refereed articles or papers in journals
- Conference proceedings
- Monographs
- Books
- Chapters in books
- Surveys
- Multimedia packages
- Design materials
- CD/DVD/video/film presentations
- Project reports
- Project materials
- Software programs
- Conference papers
- Exhibitions/productions