Frequently Asked Questions

The Doctor of Social Innovation (DSI) is an interdisciplinary, applied doctorate designed for experienced professionals who hold a master's degree and want to lead innovation and create meaningful social impact. The program combines advanced leadership, innovative thinking, human-centered design, systems approaches, and applied inquiry and evaluation to prepare professionals to develop innovative solutions and lead them from idea to action.

The DSI is designed for experienced professionals who hold a master's degree in any discipline and see opportunities to create meaningful change in their organizations, professions, industries, communities, or society. Students come from across the United States and around the world and represent diverse professions and sectors, including nonprofit organizations, government, healthcare, education, philanthropy, business, technology, the military, and entrepreneurship.

No. The DSI welcomes applicants who hold a master's degree from an accredited institution or its global equivalent, regardless of discipline. The program is intentionally interdisciplinary and interprofessional, bringing together experienced professionals with diverse academic backgrounds, areas of expertise, and career experiences.

Both the Doctor of Social Innovation (DSI) and Doctor of Social Work (DSW) offer advanced doctoral education for experienced professionals, but they are designed for different goals. The DSW provides advanced leadership training for MSW-prepared professionals seeking to lead change in the varied organizational and community settings where social workers practice and contribute. The DSI is an interdisciplinary doctorate for professionals with a master's degree from any discipline who want to develop innovative solutions to organizational or societal challenges and lead their adoption and implementation. 

For professionals with an MSW, the choice depends largely on the focus of your doctoral education and leadership goals. If you want to deepen your leadership within the broad field of social work, the DSW may be the stronger fit. If your goals center more broadly on social innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and developing and leading innovative solutions across professions, sectors, and settings, the DSI may be right for you.

The DSI brings together advanced leadership, innovation and innovative thinking, and applied inquiry and design-informed evaluation in an interdisciplinary doctoral program designed for experienced professionals. Rather than preparing students for a single profession or prescribed career path, the program builds on the expertise students already bring and prepares them to develop innovative solutions, engage stakeholders, build support for new approaches, and lead innovation into action. 

The program also emphasizes interprofessional and cross-sector collaboration and the responsible application of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in a rapidly changing global environment.

The DSI is an applied professional doctorate. Students engage in rigorous doctoral scholarship and applied inquiry, but the program is distinct from a traditional research doctorate focused primarily on generating academic theory or preparing researchers. DSI students build on research and evidence, apply appropriate methods, including design-informed evaluation, to test and evaluate innovations, and use findings to refine solutions and strengthen their potential for impact.

Students develop advanced capabilities in leadership, innovation and innovative thinking, and applied inquiry and design-informed evaluation. Areas of study include social innovation, human-centered design, systems and change leadership, strategic and ethical leadership, organizational transformation, interprofessional collaboration, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, technology-enabled change, global leadership, and intercultural competence.

The applied doctoral capstone is the culminating scholarly experience of the DSI program. Working closely with faculty mentors and key stakeholders, students identify a significant organizational or societal challenge and develop and advance an innovative solution. Students test, evaluate, and refine their innovation and develop strategies to build support and lead its adoption and implementation. 

The result is a rigorous, implementation-ready project that demonstrates the student's ability to integrate innovation, applied inquiry, and advanced leadership to move an innovative solution from idea to action.

Yes. The DSI is designed to bring together professionals from around the world who hold a master's degree. Students learn in an interdisciplinary and intercultural environment that encourages the exchange of diverse perspectives, experiences, and approaches to innovation while preparing graduates to lead across cultures and in an increasingly interconnected world.

Yes. The Doctor of Social Innovation is offered 100% online, allowing working professionals from around the world to earn their doctoral degree while continuing their careers. The program combines asynchronous learning with scheduled live online sessions and collaborative learning experiences.

Yes. The DSI is specifically designed for working professionals. Students are encouraged to connect course concepts to challenges and opportunities within their organizations and professional settings, allowing them to integrate doctoral learning with their ongoing professional work.

The program is designed to be completed in approximately three years for students who remain continuously enrolled.

The Doctor of Social Innovation consists of 42 units of doctoral coursework.

The DSI prepares experienced professionals to expand their leadership capabilities and lead innovation and change within their current professions and organizations, across sectors, or as their careers evolve. Graduates may lead organizational transformation, launch new initiatives, improve programs and services, strengthen systems, influence policy, or advance innovative approaches to complex organizational and societal challenges.

Organizations and communities across every sector are navigating rapid technological and societal change, creating both new challenges and new opportunities for innovation. The DSI prepares professionals to navigate complexity, develop innovative solutions, collaborate across disciplines and sectors, and lead the change required to move promising ideas into action and meaningful impact.

Please contact an admissions counselor or visit the admissions page for the latest information on application deadlines and upcoming cohort start dates.

We encourage prospective students to request information, attend a virtual information session, or speak with an admissions counselor to learn more about the Doctor of Social Innovation and determine whether the program aligns with your professional and leadership goals.