PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Professional Development Plan

Professional Development Plan

Prelude

The Professional Development Plan (PDP) and the accompanying Program of Study (POS) create an agreement between you and the University concerning the direction taken with your Knowledge Area Modules (KAM) and courses. They are the documents against which your progress is measured. The Professional Development Plan and Program of Study form are personal statements of goals and aspirations that your doctoral program will help to achieve.

In other words, the PDP, or Professional Development Plan, is really your strategic plan for completion of the Walden program. Each doctoral student must write one as part of the first year program. The plan is placed on file at Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) after approval by your program director. You can change your PDP by filing an amendment; changes are often discussed between a faculty mentor and student only. The PDP is not carved in granite; it is intended as an exercise in goal setting, planning, and consideration of resources. (Bar-Haim, 2002 )

The PDP provides you the opportunity to create an individualized blueprint for approaching your doctoral studies at Walden. PDP reflects on your personal history, professional accomplishments, and goals. It begins a discussion with the Walden faculty about graduate study and Walden programs. PDP also articulates academic interests and set goals for pursuing them at Walden. Identify themes for each KAM that support interests and goals is also done in PDP establishing a time line for meeting degree requirements. (Thornton & Thornton, 1989)

Goals statement

This section basically is a statement of “this is who I am and who/what I want to be in 5 (more or less) years.” Five important pieces of information are included in Part I:

•Personal introduction

•Personal and professional goals

•Professional interests and field of study and how they relate to your goals

•Walden's mission and ...