The Professional Clinical Doctorate
Admissions and Special Requirements
Updated 8/20/08

Application documents are provided at the link above.
Students may enter the Clinical Doctoral program in three ways:
     a) if you have a Masters Degree and 3-years profit center responsibility, OR
     b) if you have an MBA, OR
     c) if you have a Bachelors Degree, extra coursework is required

Bachelors Degree Admissions
Specializations
Selecting a Specialization
Phase Training required
On-site Training required
Academic Pre-requisites
Academic Courses at AGS
Final Project
Live Internships
Credit Transfer

 Bachelors Degree Admissions - Students having only a Bachelors Degree can be admitted to the Clinical Doctoral Programs, but extra academic coursework is required.

• Adizes methodology
• System Lifecycles
• Spiral Dynamics
• Principles of Therapy and Healing
• Group Dynamics
• Epistemology
• Professional Ethics
• Systems Thinking
   
• Those specializing in Organizational Design must complete Traditional Management Theory

The following notes are for ALL students in ALL Clinical Tracks
NOTE:  Overseas students may be asked to utilize a professional English editor for their written work.

 Specializations - There are three specialities to choose from:  Organizational Diagnosis, Organizational Design, or Teleology.   

 Selecting a specialty - Perhaps a student is not sure as to which clinical specialization is preferred, but definitely wants to pursue the Doctoral Degree. Without committing to a degree program, the online courses can still be taken and progress made towards the degree. Almost all online classes transfer across degree programs and specializations at AGS. Passing online courses does NOT guarantee admission to a clinical program, however, but the online courses can always be applied to any (appropriate) academic degree program at Adizes Graduate School.

 Phase Training Required - Each specialty requires the completion of different Phases of the Adizes Methodology in on-site training sessions held in Santa Barbara, California. The Diagnosis and Design specialty require three Phases, and the Teleology specialty requires four Phases. Primers in other Phases are also required for the Design or Teleology specialization.

 On-site Training - The Diagnosis and Design specialties each require one on-site class in Santa Barbara, California. Teleology requires two on-site classes. Click on Required Travel for details regarding on-site training session duration. Travel costs are the responsibility of the student.

 External (pre-requisite) academic work - Each specialty has at least two different pre-requisite courses required... meaning, courses that are NOT offered at Adizes Graduate School but must be taken prior to beginning Phase training. Alternately, students may petition for a waiver of coursework based upon documented relevant experience. Click on the specialty above for these pre-requisite requirements.

 Academic courses at AGS - All three (4) of the academic online courses below are required of all Clinical Doctoral candidates.  See Online Classes for course descriptions.

• Adizes methodology
• Spiral Dynamics
• Professional Ethics
• Epistemology

 Final Project - The capstone projects for the Professional Clinical Doctoral Degree are very different from the AGS Online Degree Programs (academic Masters or Ph.D.). The academic Ph.D. specifically requires model-building, but the clinical programs require a formal case study as the capstone project.  Students should be conscientiously aware of (and journaling) the evolution of their client company from the start of their first internship, although it is also acceptable to contract with a second company for the doctoral case study if preferable.

The final project is a case study of facilitation with one client using all the phases of the area of study in which the student has specialized OR the documentation of innovations in the field of organizational transformation INCLUDING a case study indicating their success.

There is no viva voce examination required but the written capstone project will be reviewed by a formal Doctoral Committee consisting of at least two faculty members and the Academic Dean. Others may be asked to participate including the internship mentor and persons who can provide external validation for the quality of work and the award (Degree).

The formal case study project requires all of the traditional components of a dissertation.  The final project should be formatted according to the Thesis Manual. The student will be responsible for thesis sections which may include a focus question or hypothesis; key research questions; a thorough review of relevant literature beyond Adizes; a discussion of other applicable theories; substantiation of case-study and longitudinal methods; a discussion of bias; identification of population and justification for selection; a discussion of external parameters/factors of influence on the study; a discussion of variables and controls; support for conclusions; suggestions for further study; and etc.

 Live internships - Each Adizes Phase requires three Internships and a concurrent online lab. In the first Internship, you observe a Certified Adizes Associate working with your client.  In the second, you assist in delivering material. In the third, you deliver the material yourself with supervision. Phases are never delivered back-to-back in one session. Each Phase requires unique timing and follow-up with each individual client. The student selects their own client. Expenses involved in traveling to the client site are the responsibility of the student but may be offset within the client contract. The timeframe for each client session is posted here: Required Travel.

Questions and answers, and details of student or company performance are discussed during the concurrent online labs, which also help you journal your evaluation of company progress for the capstone project.

Internships MUST be set up immediately after
a student is accepted to the Adizes Graduate School.  For details on internship set up and securing contracts, click on Program Costs

 Credit Transfer - A new, complete application to the Graduate School is required in all cases - there will be no exceptions. Any prior balance owed to the School must be paid in order for a student to be admitted to the Professional Clinical Doctorate.

Transfer of credit into or between degree programs at AGS is only accepted as follows:

A) Those who have current (unexpired) Adizes Phase Certification documents, can not transfer Certifications into the present programs. All classes must be completed while enrolled at AGS.
B) Credit for only one required course, Epistemology or Group Dynamics, may be given by AGS if taken at another University - but only if the student enters the program with a Bachelors Degree. Students getting credit for an MBA or other graduate degree cannot transfer additional credit. Transcripts are required. Overseas students MUST get transcripts evaluated by a U.S. agency that analyses credit for transfer. Agencies such as the ECE or the IERF are qualified. For additional qualified agencies, click here.
C) Completion of online courses at AGS transfer between all AGS programs.
D) Some on-site courses, lab work or internships taken in the new Professional Clinical Doctorate will transfer between clinical tracks, such as the Lecturer's Program, Phase I, II, and III, etc. 

  ADMISSIONS -APPLICATION - DISTANCE LEARNING- LIBRARY - CONTACT AGS - MANUALS

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