Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies (FLPS)

Student Perspectives

The FLPS Department regularly conducts evaluations of its programs. In general, the feedback we receive tells us that students and graduates associate their experience with five key words:

PRESTIGE: Our faculty is renowned not only for its accomplishments, but also for its personal interest in and high level of commitment to our students.

NETWORKING: So many Long Island school administrators are Hofstra graduates that there's an instant connection to the field. Not only that, the learning community and partner districts provide a network of leaders to support you once you're on the job.

OPPORTUNITY: A high percentage of graduates attain administrative positions within six months of graduation! Hofstra attracts capable people who are sincerely committed to improving education and helps them to develop their purpose, knowledge, and skills needed to work effectively in educational settings. Those qualities distinguish our graduates.

INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING - AND PRACTICAL: Our graduates often report that the quality of their learning was challenging but also directly applicable to their work as educators. Some describe their experience as one of the most satisfying and rewarding journeys of their academic life.

COMMUNITY: Hofstra's programs promote collegiality and give graduates the CONFIDENCE, INSIGHT, and COMPETENCE to achieve their goals. Direct Comments from Students and Graduates about the Quality of the Learning Experience:

What is it like to be a student at Hofstra?

• Immediately entering a community of learners and an extended family; each professor and each student immediately becomes a part of your professional life; It's become part of my being.
• A combination of exciting and supportive -- being stretched, meeting new challenges every day, while feeling supported by colleagues and professors.
• Students are not housed in an "ivory tower", lectured to by faculty with a "professorial mentality", rather, they build their ideas from the "ground floor" guided by professors with a "family mentality".
• Faculty was committed to me as a student and as a person; they allowed for individual differences without getting hung up on keeping everyone the same.
• The learning community provided support during the CAS program. It also provides you with a network of administrators once you are on the job because many CAS graduates succeed in getting administrative jobs.
• An opportunity to be exposed to new ideas expressed by thoughtful people with a chance to enact them in your school the next day.
• The collegiality is so important. It gives you a chance to hear what others have done, try it, go back and get tips on how to refine it.
• I was treated in a serious and professional way.

What difference did your experience at Hofstra make for you personally?

• It brought me to a much higher level of intellectual engagement.
• It equipped me with skills and information; most importantly, it gave me certain insights; competence, and confidence, with a positive spin on being an educational leader.
• Hofstra has been a place that has been extremely supportive of my professional endeavors, even when life has gotten in the way.
• I have become more open-minded toward my profession and the people in it. I've also become much more understanding of administrators.
• The experience has been, personally and professionally, the most challenging experience of my life, and the most satisfying and rewarding.

What difference has your experience at Hofstra made for you professionally?

• It gave me an opportunity to work with all different types of people. I've been able to have open discussions with administrators and really understand what they go through.
• My involvement has been a door-opening credential, not only because of the program content, but also because of Hofstra's reputation.
• I began as an administrator at the same time I started the program. It gave me another perspective on what I was doing.
• It gave me a tool for networking; my current position evolved from my being in the program.
• I have been convinced of the following: There is a place for theory in every day practice.
• The goals we set when we return to school to obtain a certificate usually include getting a job. At the conclusion of Hofstra's CAS program, I was not only hired in an administrative position, but I was ready for the job
• I went on interviews with the confidence that I was well prepared to answer questions and handle the positions offered. I have had three administrative positions in two districts since completing the program.

How would you describe the program?

• Comprehensive, collaborative, action-based.
• The CAS program offered me practical information that I was able to put to use immediately.
• Demanding yet flexible, invigorating and energizing, friendly and formal.
• A comprehensive program with a rich calendar of opportunities to interact with other students and professors outside of class, i.e. forums at professor's houses, holiday parties, doctoral dinners, celebrations.