Becoming a 'life-long-learner' in Lee University's graduate programs

Lee University offers 11 different graduate study programs for students to continue their degree track after obtaining their undergraduate degree. Within each program are options to obtain masters degrees, certifications, and doctoral degrees, with many having their first round of graduates this May.

Dhuranique Ferguson, Alicia Boggess and Ghalyse Swann are current students within the Marriage and Family graduate program. Ferguson and Boggess are currently working on their masters within the program, and Swann is in the doctoral program.

Eboni Long, Joel Lyon and Daniella Gray will graduate this May with their PhDs in the first Marriage and Family doctoral cohort.

Long graduated from Lee in 2014 with her masters, and now is adding her PhD.

“Being able to come back in a program like this, it felt like riding a bike,” Long said. “... all of the faculty members were so supportive of us and members of the cohort were supportive of each other.”

Since receiving his masters in 2003, Lyon, who was the first doctoral student to present his dissertation and receive distinction, wanted to be a part of the doctoral program from the start.

“This opportunity was God-ordained for me ... it’s given me a new opportunity to impact the foster care system,” Lyon said about the program as a whole and how it has set the tone for his work in Dalton, Georgia’s foster care system.

For Lyon, the program was not only an achievement for himself, but for his family as a whole. His brother-in-law, Joe Parker, also defended his dissertation just two hours before Lyon did, joking that Parker won the little rivalry that had ensued.

Boggess knew about Lee University since she was in high school in Chattanooga, and later decided the school will be her home for the next nine years. When it was time for Boggess to choose a masters program, she found herself comparing other programs to Lee’s Psychology Graduate Program.

“I’m confident in saying our program is the best,” she said.

Ferguson had also attended Lee for her undergrad, but her path was not on the Psychology track until she had added a minor. Ferguson had graduated with an undergrad in Exercise Science with a Psychology minor.

“I love sports, but this experience learning more about the mind and body connection (through the Masters program) has been so beneficial,” she said.

Lee had always been the option for Swann because it was practically ingrained within her family—her mother, brothers and cousins had all graduated from Lee. Not only has Lee provided her with the means of education, but Cleveland in general has served as a “version of home” for Swann because she is originally from Nassau, Bahamas. With her doctorate finished in 2024, she plans on applying for citizenship within the United States, train other counselors, and to give back to the community.

Swann broke down her experience from undergrad, masters, and now doctorate into three different levels. She explained undergrad as a series of introductory classes, like understanding creation of the mind for Psychology students. The masters program is a step up because it takes the skills one learns from their undergrad and applies that foundational knowledge. The Ph.D program increases the application to teach and research certain topics that promote change.

For Kristen Early, Joe Parker and Allen Clark, their experience within the Master of Science in Higher Education program will be groundbreaking for Lee University. They will serve as the first three graduates of Lee’s doctoral program for education.

“Lee indoctrinated me to be a lifelong learner,” Kristen Early, who is set to receive her certificate for her doctorate on May 6 of this year, said.

Early, Parker, and Clark had all received their educational specialist degrees (Early and Clark in 2015 and Parker in 2018), and in August of 2020 the education department communicated the addition of a doctoral program to the current Masters and EDS programs. All accepted the challenge and continued forward in their education.

All three came from different walks of life: Parker was already in the classroom teaching at Silverdale Academy. Early was balancing being a brand new mother, a full-time job and being a full time student. Clark had recently discovered his passion for special education at Trousdale School after being “stuck in corporate America” for several years.

Parker described the energy within his cohort as “these people were pursuing their doctorate for a reason ... a room full of able people.”

Over the next three years, the cohort participated in several rigorous and challenging classes taught them key elements like leadership skills and prepared them to write their dissertations at the end of the courses.

Early made a point to highlight that, even though the program was fairly new, her trust in the leadership of the program was unbreakable.

Clark expressed his great gratitude for the diligence and care of the professors because Clark did not have much experience before.

After two years of research on a topic of the candidate’s choosing, they have to present their research in 20 minutes to a committee hand selected by the candidates themselves, followed by 35 minutes of questioning from audience and committee members. Parker described the situation as a place of presentation and celebration. The nerve racking part happens within the 15 minutes that the committee steps out of the room to decide if a candidate is worthy of the doctoral title. Parker and Lyon defended their dissertations on March 29.

All graduates within the interviews stated that each program promotes a level of rigor, beyond any level of challenge in undergrad. However, almost all praised the level of community and support they received from both their professors and each other. There was also a great importance within each student that they somehow found so many aspects about themselves. For some, it was that they were able to persevere through the hard times and finish strong.

Parker used the metaphor “even if you made it an inch, you were farther than you were yesterday.”

If you are interested in the available graduate programs and would like more information click here.