Five Cape Girardeau residents arrived on the University of Missouri at Columbia campus last month to begin pursuing a doctorate from the MU College of Education as part of the Statewide Cooperative Doctorate in Educational Leadership program.

Betty Chong, assistant superintendent for special services for Cape Girardeau public schools; Marty Clay, assistant registrar at Southeast Missouri State University; Rita Fisher, principal of West Lane Elementary in Jackson; Jack Mann, principal of Nell Holcomb; and Rose Tallent, elementary principal of Jackson schools, all are participating in program.

This is a joint effort to establish a collaborative program that expands opportunities for advanced degrees in education from state universities. However, unlike traditional students, these students won't have to return to campus every day for class over the next three to five years.

"This is one of the first major collaborative efforts we've had in Missouri at the doctoral level," said Kala M. Stroup, Missouri commissioner of higher education. "This collaborative program allows the institutions to partner for better access to doctoral education, improved quality, and the sharing of resources. The students will benefit from the cross-fertilization of ideas and practices as faculty and students from all regions of the state come together for this program."

The theme for this summer's program is "creating effective learning organization." During their four-week stay at MU, the students were busy with learning activities including readings, discussions, case study analyses, a major group project, an examination and assignments. The students were on the MU campus for only a month, but the summer instructional program extends throughout the summer with required reading, meetings and assignments.