The purpose of CDS Alumni Collaborative Projects is to:

• Develop collaboration among the alumni with various research skills;
• Investigate CDS alumni and student issues and challenges; and
• Publish and present project results in a peer-reviewed venue.

CDS Alumni SIG established CDS Alumni Collaborative Projects in 2018. Every year four research team projects have been supported by Alumni SIG to be completed, presented, and submitted for a peer-reviewed journal published by the end of the year. All research members are CDS doctoral alumni. Between 2018 and 2021, 16 research team projects have been completed.   

CDS Alumni Collaborative Projects are established and supported by Dr. Mansureh Kebritchi, Chair of the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology (CEITR) and leader of CDS Alumni SIG. Additionally, Dr. Louise Underdahl, co-leader of CDS Alumni SIG, supports the projects.       

CDS Alumni Collaborative Fellowship Projects are offered on four research topics.  While the last topic is open, the goal of these projects is to focus on and elucidate the professional and scholarship experiences and development of doctoral alumni and, the third specifically focuses on experiences as a doctoral student at the University of Phoenix.

• Adult learners in online higher education (mixed methods, quantitative, or qualitative)
• CDS alumni professional/career development needs/issues/challenges (mixed methods or quantitative)
• CDS alumni scholarly development needs/issues/challenges (mixed methods or quantitative)
• CDS doctoral student needs, experiences, and issues (mixed methods or quantitative study)
• Open topic aligned with the applicant’s research interest (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) - potential topics include ramifications of COVID-19 for education (virtual K-12 and higher education environment), business (work from home), and healthcare (telemedicine, virtual patient care).

Each CDS Alumni Collaborative Fellowship Project team comprises a team leader/fellow and 2 other team members. Fellows will be alumni researchers with a track record of at least 2 peer-reviewed publications within the last 5 years who would be willing to mentor and work with other 2 alumni researchers to develop and complete the projects. The team members will enhance their research skills by working closely with a more experienced researcher while the team leaders/fellows will gain mentoring experience. 

Fellowship Requirements. Each research team must complete the study, present it, and publish it. Data collected belong to all members of the team. No individual member or members of the team may use team data to publish or present independently. The major project stages include

• IRB approval;
• Presentation at a peer-reviewed conference; 
• Manuscript submission to a peer-reviewed journal;
• Manuscript acceptance for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

To be considered, please send the following items to EducationalTechnology@phoenix.edu:

• Your CV
• Specify whether you apply for a fellow/team leader or team member position. Provide justification for why you are the best-suited candidate.
• For fellow/team leader positions provide a one-page summary of the research prospectus for one of the above four topics (i.e., research problem, question(s), method). You may suggest your team members.
• For team member position state your research topic selected from one of the above four topics

By joining CDS Alumni SIG Research Team, you agree to follow the Research Team Terms. 

Questions? Email: EducationalTechnology@phoenix.edu