Meet the Team Behind Excelsior’s DBA Program
Excelsior University’s DBA Leadership Team
As Excelsior University launches its Doctor of Business Administration program, two leaders of Excelsior’s School of Business have stepped forward to help shape the program for working professionals: Dean Brian Allen and Associate Dean Leah Sciabarrasi.
Sciabarrasi brings extensive experience in online education, academic program development, and student support. Allen has spent more than 20 years leading projects, operations, and technology initiatives in industries from IT and e-commerce to renewable energy, telecommunications, and international business.
Allen and Sciabarrasi are leading the development of Excelsior’s DBA program with a shared vision: creating a scholar-practitioner experience that combines academic rigor with practical application. Designed for experienced professionals, the program centers around applied research, data-informed decision-making, leadership development, and dissertation support from the earliest stages of study.
How to Create a High-Touch, Low-Residency DBA Program
From the beginning, Allen and Sciabarrasi knew they wanted students to leave the program with more than just a piece of paper. They wanted graduates to emerge as confident leaders capable of solving complex problems through research-backed decision-making.
“We want students to graduate with a very future-focused lens,” Sciabarrasi says. “We want them to be able to translate the lessons learned from their research … and dissertation work into the workplace, and we want them to go out there and be successful leaders as a result of this entire experience.”
A major focus of the program design has been student success. Sciabarrassi explains that many doctoral students get stuck in “ABD” (all but dissertation) status, completing coursework but never finishing their dissertation. To prevent students from indefinite ABD status, Excelsior’s DBA program builds dissertation support into the student experience from the start.
Instead of waiting until the end of the program to begin dissertation work, students begin developing ideas early, working alongside faculty mentors and dissertation committee members. Key milestones are embedded into coursework so that assignments build toward the dissertation.
“It’s work that’s being done intentionally,” Sciabarrasi explains, “so [students] can build some of that knowledge and build some of that work into the final product.”
Allen describes the DBA as a scholar-practitioner degree built specifically for experienced professionals who already possess industry expertise. The goal, he says, is to help students combine their professional knowledge with research skills to create innovative solutions within their organizations.
“These are folks who are already practicing in the workplace,” Allen says. “Now we want to give [them] the academic research capacities to say, ‘What if I applied this theory to these practical principles and applications so I can come up with a new solution?’”
Allen and Sciabarrasi complemented one another throughout the design process. Sciabarrasi brought deep institutional knowledge and expertise in online learning, student engagement, and program operations. Allen contributed his experience leading other DBA programs, along with a deep knowledge of higher education and industry leadership.
Allen jokes that if they had to summarize their contributions in a single line, associate deans “do all the hard work,” while deans focus on big-picture strategy. But humor aside, both agree that their work relationship is highly collaborative and built around student success.
The Crucible of Competing Ideas
Allen and Sciabarrasi explain that their differences in perspective became opportunities to strengthen the DBA program rather than obstacles to overcome.
“It’s more about bringing our experiences to the table and then just being open to figuring out which one we should select,” Allen says.
He says that the variety of backgrounds represented on the program’s development team have improved the final product. While some members have brought institutional knowledge, others have contributed experience as dissertation chairs, coaches, and leaders of other doctoral programs. The team regularly evaluates what worked elsewhere, where common pitfalls exist, and how to proactively support students before problems emerge.
“It isn’t going to be perfect out of the gate,” Allen says. “What I want folks to realize is it’s going to be iterative over time. … That’s the kind of thing we’re asking students to do, so we should expect the same of ourselves.”
Envisioning the Excelsior Scholar-Practitioner
Although the program is just beginning, Sciabarrasi and Allen already have a clear vision for graduates of the DBA program.
Students will learn to not only solve problems but also question assumptions, evaluate evidence critically, and make thoughtful, data-informed decisions.
“We want students to know what questions to ask,” Sciabarrasi says. “Sometimes people lead with their guts, and they don’t necessarily have a data-driven lens. Other times, they select the wrong sets of data and don’t ask the right questions for the problems they’re trying to solve.”
Allen also points out that the goal is not to create leaders who blindly follow data; it’s to create leaders who understand how to interpret and apply it responsibly.
“We want them to make data-informed decisions, because at the end of the day, what we do is about people,” he says.
By the time students complete the program, the team hopes graduates will think more critically, lead more strategically, and approach challenges with greater confidence. Beyond earning a doctorate, students will gain the ability to improve their leadership capabilities and make an impact within their industries.
Learn more about the DBA program at Excelsior University and discover how you can become a scholar-practitioner prepared to lead in a rapidly evolving business landscape.
Keep Reading About the DBA Team
• Dean Brian Allen’s vision for Excelsior’s DBA program
• Associate Dean Leah Sciabarrasi on the DBA program’s student experience
