I can't believe I'm going to do this

After my insiteful conversation with my husband on Tuesday, I've spent the past two days re-mapping my five year plan. (You have a five-year plan, don't you? Hmmm, I see a new blog topic...) I have decided to take advantage of Ivy Tech's "deal" with Indiana State University and get a PhD in Education Administration.

I know it might seem obvious to most people that someone who works at a college would automatically want to go and get a PhD. But they would be wrong. There are many colleages where I work very content with their job and their Master's degree with no desire to continue their education. We live, breathe, and eat education every day, and it's exhausting. Trying to get a degree while doing that is very difficult, and often takes a very long time. One or two people have gone on sabbatical to get it done, but I'm not high enough up on the food chain to even broach that topic.

My mom was a bit surprised that I wasn't getting a PhD in communication. It's true, I had been holding out on making the big decision until I knew exactly which PhD I wanted, and for a while, there, communication was in the lead. However, there are two big factors that stand in the way. One, I would have to commute to a university in Chicago that offers it (and pay out-of-state tutition, shudder) or travel down to West Lafayette on class days. It's doable, but the commuting time would be hard on my family. Two, if I got a PhD in communication, I would be setting myself on the road to teach (and/or research) communication until I retired. I love the idea of doing nothing but research, but I know I don't want to teach until I'm in my 60s or 70s. I really do want to get into administration.

Some of my biggest complaints with how our school is run stem from the fact that many of our decision-making members were never instructors. How can they possibly know what we really need if they've never been in a classroom on the other side of the desk? As I move up into administration, I will be the advocate that faculty members so badly need. We don't have a voice in a lot of decisions that affect our day-to-day job. It will make a difference to have a Provost, Vice Chancellor, Chancellor, or even Preseident who once taught. I'm not sure I would ever make it up that high the chain (or if I would even want to), but how ever high up I go, I would have the ear of those above me in hopes of influencing.

So, based on research of current job openings and the types of PhDs these types of jobs prefer, Education Administration it is. So, I'm off to study for the GRE. :\