Curriculum - Doctor of Information Science in Information Science Leadership and Community Engagement (D.Inf.Sci.) - College of Information (INFO)

Curriculum – Doctor of Information Science in Information Science Leadership and Community Engagement (D.Inf.Sci.)

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The Info Leader Doctorate consists of 48 credit hours, completed through 11 fully online courses (most synchronous) and an online capstone project. In addition, doctoral students participate in two to three brief, two-day, in-person visits with faculty at the University of Maryland College Park campus, scheduled at key milestones in the program. This part-time program is designed to meet the needs of working professionals and traditional students alike. Courses are fully online and students may enroll in courses at their chosen pace—or complete the program in as little as three years.

The Info Leader Doctorate curriculum prepares graduates for institution-level leadership with a focus on:

  • Leadership skills for information organizations
  • Ethical and equitable leadership approaches
  • Empowerment and strengthening of the communities that the organization serves
  • Strategic research methodology for organization, community, and program assessment and evaluation
  • Peer support and networking through Inquiry Groups

Research Methodology Education: Professional Applications

As the goal of the Info Leader Doctorate program is to prepare working professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to identify, investigate, and address real-world leadership and community engagement challenges, learning how to conduct organizational and community research is central to the curriculum. The curriculum prepares students for the Capstone, as well as for conducting applied research within their organizations to empower data-driven decision making.

Some examples of the types of research projects that Info Leader Doctoral students may pursue include:

  • Designing Public Library Programs for Developing AI Literacy in Middle School Students
  • Ensuring Equitable Access to Museums for Children with Autism
  • Investigating the role of Algorithmic Bias in Inequitable Hiring Practices affecting People with Disabilities from Underserved Communities
  • Management of Legal and Ethical Challenges faced by IT Managers
  • Inequities in Advising Practices of Higher Education Institutions
  • Exploring the Connections between Health Disparities and Exposure to Environmental Toxins
  • Engaging Archives Users & Raising the Visibility of Archives through Outreach
  • Analyzing the Impacts of Social Media and AI Usage on Mental Health
  • Designing Online Spaces to Support Informal Caregivers of People with Dementia
  • Assessing the Effectiveness and Impacts of Living Learning Communities for College Freshmen
Inquiry Groups

Students also participate in Inquiry Groups, cross-cohort communities of practice designed to bring together small groups of students who share institutional contexts and/or research interests. Each group will include one full-time faculty member and contributions from the college’s broad professional network.

  • Each inquiry group will meet monthly in an online, synchronous format for a self-directed readings seminar to discuss readings selected by the group and the faculty mentor. This is also an opportunity to discuss problems of practice, research questions, and/or related literature.
  • As a supplement to the program’s online modality, inquiry groups also function in a unique way; groups will identify an annual conference that all members and faculty mentor will attend together; at least 3 during the course of the program.
  • As members of an Inquiry Group reach the capstone stage, the group will also function as a valuable source of writing and research support.

Sample curriculum to achieve program requirements in a three year period:

Fall 1 Spring 1 Summer 1
Literacies for Leadership Information Ethics Diverse Populations, Inclusion, and Information
Practice-Based Research Information and Human Rights Information Policy
Inquiry Groups Inquiry Groups Inquiry Groups
Fall 2 Spring 2 Summer 2
The Public Intellectual Inclusive Leadership for Information Organizations Access, Accessibility, and Equity
Program Assessment and Evaluation Participatory Design and Participatory Action Research Doctoral Capstone Preparation
Inquiry Groups Inquiry Groups Inquiry Groups
Fall 3 Spring 3
Doctoral Capstone I Doctoral Capstone II
Inquiry Groups Inquiry Groups

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