195 seeking ethical leadership doctorate at St. Thomas University

St. Thomas University’s ethical leadership program has become its second-largest doctoral degree following its College of Law studies.

As of now, the program has 195 doctoral students enrolled, with about 30 in the master’s program and 12 undergraduate students compared to this time last year of roughly 200 students in total, said David Armstrong, St. Thomas’ president and co-founder of the degree program.

The success of the ethical leadership degree program is due to partnerships with local businesses and identities like the Red Cross, Coral Gables municipal offices, and the Government Supervisors Association.

A prime example was when the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce chose the university to bring back its leadership classes, Mr. Armstrong said.

“They brought it back and they actually kicked it off on our campus mainly because of our ethical leadership studies program,” he said, “and now we’re working with the chamber on possible opportunities for certificates and degrees.”

St. Thomas University at 16401 NW 37th Ave. in Miami Gardens has even bigger aspirations for the ethical leadership program, Mr. Armstrong said.

“Our goal is to actually have the ethical leadership program come into college, and it would be called The Ethical Leadership and Disciplinary Studies College,” he said. “As we continue to grow, we want to be the university that people go to specifically get an ethical leadership degree. People can be great leaders, but it’s very important that they’re an excellent ethical leader.”