UC Online’s Alumni Trish Miller | MEd Educational Leadership

Trish’s drive to be successful in her career in education made her pursue an MEd in Educational Leadership

Trish Miller graduated from UC online’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership program. She works as an Associate Principal at La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

We recently talked to Trish about her experience with the program and how it helped her to do better in her career.

Why a Master’s in Educational Leadership at UC Online?

Trish was called to make an impact in her community through education. After 20 years of owning a successful transportation logistics business, she sold her portion of the business.

“I was discerning what am I really called to do [after selling the logistics business], because retirement was an option at that point,” said Trish. “But I really did feel like I was called to be an educator.”

Earning a teaching certificate between business ventures allowed Trish to pivot from businesswoman to high school teacher. After a few years of teaching, she felt called to do more and to become a leader in education—putting her on the path to enroll in and earn her Master’s in Educational Leadership at UC Online.

Trish chose UC Online for two reasons—community and flexibility.

She said she wanted to learn in the context of where she lived. She also explained that the primary reason she joined the program at UC Online was the flexibility—she has four children and needed something that would fit her schedule.

Program Curriculum 

Trish found the case studies and projects, and the classes to be extremely practical.

“There are things that I’ve gone back to and referred to the materials,” said Trish. “Because I’ve faced similar types of situations in my current role to what we covered in the classroom.”

She cited various examples of how she’s taken topics covered in the classroom and applied them to real-life scenarios she’s faced in educational leadership. The examples ranged from school finance to school law.

Currently, Trish is an associate principal in a private school. Before working at a private school, Trish used to teach in public schools. During her master’s degree, she had to compare and contrast different school systems, something she says she lives now.

Master of Educational Leadership: Faculty

“I will tell you this: Professor McCauley was my professor for the practicum experience. But obviously, I’d had him in some of the classes too and hands down through any of my collegiate experiences he has been the single most helpful, supportive professor, I’ve ever had,” said Trish.

Professor McCauley, also the Program Director of the Educational Leadership program, helped Trish network and was there to answer any questions she had about the field.

UC Online: Exceeding Her Expectations

Going into the program Trish wanted to gain professional development, foundational skills, and the knowledge to become a successful school leader. She also wanted to be prepared for her principal licensure. She said both of those things happened, and her experience in the program far exceeded her expectations because of the support she gained from faculty, the geographical diversity of students enrolled in the program across the United States, and the real-world experience that she finds applicable today.

Why She Recommends UC Online?

Trish has recommended the program to others. When teachers ask her about getting their licensure, she tells them to research UC Online’s Master of Education Leadership program because it’s flexible and will ‘super prepare’ you for a leadership role.

She said what UC offers is a pretty good bang for your buck as far as investing in what you want your future career to be.

Making Connections While Earning Her Degree

Even though it’s online, Trish explained that she felt like the learning environment was collaborative and that she came out of the program with a network of people who went through the same experience.

After she received her degree, she had a lot of job offers that she could have accepted, and this was kind of a unique opportunity—she found it helpful to have a network when questions came up.

“That was one thing that I’ve told teachers,” said Trish, speaking of the networking aspect of the program. “It’s a great program. It’s super flexible. But at the end of it, you’re going to know a lot of people that went through it too and that’s helpful.”

Learn more about UC Online’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership