Our Present

• The School of Leadership and Education Sciences is home to 4 departments: Leadership Studies, Learning and Teaching and School, Family and Mental Health Professions (which includes Counseling and Marital and Family Therapy) as well as the Naval ROTC program.
  • These departments and programs offer a total of 10 degree programs with multiple specializations, as well as 16 credential & 4 certificate programs
• SOLES is also home to undergraduate minors in Leadership Studies, Education and Naval Sciences
• Total enrollment for SOLES as of Fall 2012: 656 students
• Graduate Students: 549
• Undergraduate Students: 107
• The doctoral program in leadership studies has over 315 alums whose diverse work is showcased in the Dissertation Library in the Hill Hall Reading Room.
• We are proud of the commitment and contributions of our 41 full-time faculty members, 40+ affiliate faculty members, and 30 administrators and staff.
• Our faculty are involved in numerous research projects, utilize new and innovative pedagogies, and engage in a diverse range of scholarship activities that embody a commitment to a model of education that serves the goals of social justice.
• SOLES is home to and affiliated with 10 academic centers and institutes that strengthen connections for SOLES students and faculty both locally and internationally. 
  • Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research (2004)
  • Character Development Center (1995)
  • Center for Education Policy and Law (2007)
  • Educational Leadership Development Academy (2001)
  • Global Center (2001)
  • Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation (2012)
  • The Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research (2004)
  • Leadership Institute (2000)
  • Manchester Family Child Development Center (1989)
  • Mobile Technology Learning Center (2012)
• SOLES has a highly engaged and committed Advisory Board comprised of local business and community leaders, alumni, and current & former educators from San Diego county.
• The work of our faculty, students, alums and friends is highlighted in our bi-annual newsletter Horizons. 
• Each year, SOLES honors legendary contributions to the field of education made by individuals in San Diego and Imperial Counties with our Remarkable Leaders in Education ceremony and award. 

Our Past

SOLES, in its past and present states, is the second oldest academic unit at the University of San Diego.

Year	Milestone
1949	Charters granted for the San Diego College for Women (SDCW) and San Diego University, which was comprised of the San Diego College for Men (SDCM) and the Law School.
1951	Construction of SDCW completed (now Founders and Camino Halls)
1952	Mother Margaret Guest appointed department chair of SDCW. Mother Rosalie Hill is named honorary president of the university.
1960	First Masters of Education degree from SDCW
1963	SDCM adds Single-subject Teaching Credential
1972	SDCW and SDCM merge to become the School of Education (SOE). Monsignor Dr. William Elliott is appointed dean of SOE.
1979	Drs. Joseph Rost and Phil Hwang establish first doctoral program in leadership studies in the United States. Dr. Edward DeRoche is appointed dean of SOE.
1989	DeForest Strunk Chair in special education is endowed creating the first SOE Chair at USD.
1998	Dr. Paula Cordeiro is appointed dean of SOE.
2005	The School of Education becomes the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES).
2007	Construction of Mother Rosalie Hill Hall is completed. SOLES moves to its new home.
2008	SOLES is ranked among the top 100 national universities in graduate education programs.
2009	USD celebrates its 60th birthday and the doctoral program in leadership studies turns 30. SOLES is ranked among the top 100 universities in graduate education programs for the second year in a row.
2009	SOLES becomes the new home of the university's renowned AROTC and NROTC programs and the Naval Science minor for undergraduates.
2012	SOLES celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Our Home

Before moving to its current location, SOLES/SOE resided in several other locations on campus, including Harmon Hall (current site of Degheri Alumni Center) and the west campus buildings of Coronado and Barcelona. SOLES now resides in the Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, a state-of-the art facility that incorporates cutting edge technology in its classrooms. Hill Hall sits on a picturesque mesa in the northwest corner of campus. SOLES celebrated its new home with a dedication ceremony on October 20th, 2007.

Our Namesake

In 1945, Mother Rosalie Hill, superior vicar of the Society of the Sacred Heart, stood on a hilltop in San Diego with Reverend Charles F. Buddy, first bishop of the Diocese of San Diego. The two religious leaders envisioned building two institutions that would provide the best in sacred and secular learning. A few years later those colleges were founded.

Mother Hill was a gifted educator and administrator and served as principal of the Sacred Heart School in Boston during the 1920s. In 1929, Mother Hill was named Vicar of the Sacred Heart Western Province and served as the supervisor for the San Francisco College for Women in the 1930s. It was in San Francisco that Mother Hill met Bishop Buddy and the two made plans to establish a university in San Diego. Mother Hill was the founding president of the San Diego College for Women and served as an honorary president until her death on December 12th, 1964. Mother Hill embodied the compassionate service and dedication to educational equity that is foundational to the mission and vision of SOLES.

Bishop Charles Buddy is also honored as an educational pioneer in Hill Hall. The building's Sala (Spanish for living room) and main lobby has been named the Bishop Charles Francis Buddy Sala. In addition to honoring Bishop Buddy's vision, the Sala also recognizes 15 pioneers in education whose work and accomplishments mirror the vision of SOLES. These individuals are: Mary McLeod Bethune, Don Bosco, Confucius, John Dewey, WEB Dubois, Paulo Freire, Fredrich Froebel, Horace Mann, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, Tomas Rivera, Carl Rogers, Janet Erskine Stuart, Lev Vygotsky, and Booker T. Washington.