Dr. Gary Ritter

Central Piedmont Community College

Executive Director of Learning Technology Services and History Instructor

I selected the educational leadership program at UNC Charlotte for several reasons. The most important consideration was my experience at the UNC sister school at Greensboro where I attended for my BA and MA. I truly enjoyed my time there and expected the same at UNC Charlotte. – the University of North Carolina has a great reputation. Another consideration was location. I work near uptown Charlotte on the central campus of Central Piedmont Community College, so getting to the university area after work was easy. I also intentionally chose a program that was mostly on-site. While I did take advantage of several online classes, I did want to attend a program where I could meet regularly with professors and classmates. I knew that the relationships I made with these colleagues would be very valuable, and it has been. I received many benefits from completing this program. I was immersed in theory I had not been very familiar with, I strengthened my research and analytical skills, I was introduced to industry professionals, received valuable mentorship and maybe best of all was able to discuss the important trends within higher education with experts. I am very pleased with my choice of UNC Charlotte and am proud to have earned my doctorate there.