FAQs

Because of the diverse needs of our students, we offer both on-line and on-campus classes. Deciding which is best for you depends upon several factors.

Campus-based would be better for you if you fit these criteria:

• Do you live in the Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area, or willing to relocate?
• Are you able to attend class one or two nights a week for 3 hours each, usually between 5:30pm and 8:30pm?
• Do you thrive in a rich interactive and collaborative face to face environment?
• Do you prefer having a class stretch out over a whole semester, rather than the faster pace of the on-line eight weeks?
• Would you like the flexibility to take classes in both formats (mixing some campus courses with some online) to fit your schedule?

On-line classes would be better for you if you meet these criteria:

• You need the flexibility to take care of assignments or interactions late in the evening or early in the morning, maybe even on weekends.
• You live too far away to commute to campus.
• You prefer to complete the classes in a shorter time frame (8 weeks instead of the traditional 15 week semester structure).
• You get distracted easily in a classroom setting.

The online courses offered in are on an eight-week schedule, usually with each course divided into four two-week-long learning modules whereas the on-campus program covers the material in 15 weeks (meeting 1 night per week).  Students who complete the work for an eight-week online course are required to accomplish the same type and amount of work that they would have been required to do for a more traditional fifteen-week course on Gonzaga's campus.  Both the eight-week online version and the 15-week face-to-face version are worth three graduate semester credits.

This set up allows an on-line student to take two classes, six credits, per semester, but dedicate themselves to just one class at a time. Doing so ensures that the student will be done in approximately two years, provided they take classes during the Summer term as well.

Because on-campus students have to attend class one night per week, stretching the course out for the whole semester allows the student to take the same two classes per semester and finish in the same amount of time.

In the on-line classes, each learning module is developed around content competencies, and organizes the student's work around readings, teacher presentations, films, mentor statements, and an on-going discussion among the students and the teacher via a designated Gonzaga Blackboard site (www.blackboard.com). After doing the work outlined for each two-week module, students show evidence of mastery of the competencies through some means determined by the teacher (e.g., papers, group projects).

If employers are disturbed about reimbursing tuition costs for eight-week courses, it is most likely because they don't understand that while the course schedule has changed, the course content, work and credits have not. The Registrar's Office of Gonzaga University is willing to be in communication with any employer regarding the equivalency of eight-week courses and the more traditional fifteen-week courses; in such cases, it would be helpful if a copy of the organizations tuition reimbursement policy could be provided to the Registrar's Office beforehand (in such case, please contact the University's Assistant Academic Vice President, Jolanta Weber, at 509-313-6595 or weberj@gonzaga.edu.  The online courses leading to the Master of Arts in ORGL or COML are the current technical evolution of our distance-education program outreach to professionals who cannot attend classes on Gonzaga's campus. Although the specific technology used is different (i.e., more current), the philosophy which propels our outreach has not changed over our nearly twenty years of distance-education experience.  We seek to provide a transformational course of studies that will effect positive changes in both individual leaders and the organizations they serve.

Yes! Because the on-campus experience depends heavily on each individual's participation, it is a good idea to speak to the professor who is teaching the class about how often is practical to miss class.  The programs were designed with the working adult in mind and therefore, professors are often able to work with students who may need to miss on occasion.  The content offered on-campus and online are virtually identical - therefore, combining on-campus and online courses throughout your studies will still get you to the end goal of receiving your masters degree from Gonzaga University.  If you live in the greater Spokane area - apply for the campus-based program and you may take a combination of formats.

They are the same. Because we understand that not everyone is able to attend class on campus or need to mix online and on-campus classes, we strive to make sure the material offered in both formats meets the same rigorous criteria. We feel that though both formats have their positive and negative aspects, we should provide the same quality product regardless of the delivery method of teaching.

To this end, we have gone through great lengths to ensure the online experience mirrors the on-campus class.  The Organizational Leadership program was instrumental in improving the method for distance-delivery of its curriculum. In the late eighties and early nineties, faculty from the Gonzaga campus traveled to distant sites in the United States and Canada. Later in the nineties, courses were provided by linking a distance-learning site to Gonzaga's campus through compressed-video technology. More recently, courses on-campus and off-campus were linked and integrated with each other through compressed-video technology.

In the few years prior to offering the degree online, some faculty in the Organizational Leadership program experimented with delivering courses using online technology exclusively. At that time, the Communication and Leadership Studies program was initiated. Beginning Spring Semester 2004, both programs became available entirely online except for one course designated as a "residency requirement"; ORGL 502 - Leadership and Imagination is required by all ORGL students and is taken during a three-day residency on Gonzaga's Spokane campus. COML 517 - Communication Practica is required by all COML students and can be taken as a summer study abroad experience in Italy or during the regular school year as a 3-day intensive on Gonzaga's Spokane campus. Today's online courses represent a significant improvement over the previous experiments in online education. The "new" online distance-education program that began January 12, 2004 has the following features:

• faculty develop and create their courses after a semester's training in competency-based education;
• this training assists them to better articulate their learning objectives for students, as well as to more accurately measure students' achievement of mastery in the courses' competencies;
• faculty work with a production team which translates their courses' content into engaging online presentations using graphics, video, and audio;
• faculty who teach online courses meet with each other regularly to share best practices, revise their courses online at least every three years, and have opportunities for professional development specifically in online teaching methodology;
• students make use of a Mentors Gallery, that is, a collection of filmed interviews with nationally-known leaders and writers in leadership studies, archived according to topic;
• students are able to engage each other, the faculty, and mentors using both synchronous and asynchronous communication tools such as discussion boards and virtual classrooms (a "community of learning" - learning from other students as well as from the teacher has always been a key dynamic of the our programs);
• online courses allow that community to be expanded throughout the nation and, potentially, the world; and
• students are able to use the course management software (e.g., Blackboard) to send written work or other evidence of mastery to faculty, who are then able to respond to the students online as well.

Whether you pursue your degree as a campus-based student or as an online-only student, your final degree will be from Gonzaga University.  It will read "Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership" or "Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies" from Gonzaga University.

Yes - but the requirement involves just one 3-day intensive course on the Gonzaga campus.  If you are interested in the Organizational Leadership degree, the residency course is ORGL 502, Leadership and Imagination.  The course is offered several times each semester and students come to campus for 3 days of intensive class-time and then complete the course online.

If you will be pursuing the Communication and Leadership Studies degree, the residency course is COML 517, Communication Practica.  This course is offered once during the Fall and Spring semesters.  It is also a 3-day intensive course on the Gonzaga campus with an online component.  During the summer term, students may elect to fulfill this class requirement as part of the International Media study-abroad experience in Italy.

Step One:  In order to apply to become a graduate student in the Organizational Leadership or Communication and Leadership programs, please complete the appropriate application and/or contact an Enrollment Specialist:

• For campus-based students
  • Follow this link for an application and list of required materials for Organizational Leadership.
  • Follow this link for an application and list of required materials for Communication & Leadership Studies.
  • Contact Connie Caddis at 509-313-3684 or email caddis@gonzaga.edu.
• For the online-only program
  • Visit www.gonzagaonline.com for application information.
  • Call 866-295-3105 to connect with an online student support specialist.

Step Two:  After submitting your application and a $50 application fee, you'll need to send the following materials to Gonzaga University / School of Professional Studies / MSC 2616 / Spokane, WA 99258:

• Official transcripts of all college work;
• Statement of Purpose (unless included with electronic application);
• Official Test Scores, (GRE, MAT, GMAT or LSAT);
• Two letters of recommendation and
• a Resume.

Step Three:  After being accepted, you will be issued the following:

• a student ID,
• a Gonzaga e-mail address,
• Blackboard access username and password (the same as your e-mail username and password), and
• Zagweb access username and password. Eventually, you will make use of Gonzaga's "Zagweb" program to register for your courses, view your schedules, and update your contact information. If you are a brand-new student, however, an Enrollment Specialist will help register you for your first semester.

Step Four:  Once you are registered for the courses you want to take, you need to make arrangements to pay the tuition for them. Contact Gonzaga University's Student Accounts office at 509-313-6812.

Step Five:  Enjoy being a graduate student in Organizational Leadership or Communication and Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University.  Go Zags!