Christine Johnson McPhail, Mary Robinson and Harriette Scott
The Cohort Leadership Development Model: Student Perspectives
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Abstract
This study examined how graduate students enrolled in a university based cohort community college leadership doctoral program perceived their leadership development experiences. A total of 50 doctoral students enrolled in the Morgan State University (MSU) doctoral program were surveyed. A separate group of students (20) participated in a focus group. Results indicated that although doctoral students generally reported positive experiences, some students reported that certain factors or characteristics and behaviors of cohort members were not beneficial to the cohort experience. The positive results (structure, instructors, networking, and curriculum) of the cohort experience seem to support the findings of a number of works in the previous research relating to cohort learning environments. The findings further indicated that such factors such as dominant group members, lack of commitment to the cohort, failure to meet group expectations, traditional instructional modalities, and inadequate facilities negatively impacted perceptions of the cohort experience. 
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Biographies:
Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail: Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail is the Managing Partner, The McPhail Group and Emerita Professor, Morgan State University is a leader whose example has inspired countless future leaders, Christine Johnson McPhail currently serves as the National Facilitator for the American Association of Community College’s (AACC) Future Presidents Institute (an intensive five-day institute designed for senior level community college administrators on the direct path to a presidency) and she also serves as a Leadership/Strategy Coach for over a dozen Achieving the Dream colleges (http://achievingthedream.org). As founder and professor for the Community College Doctoral Leadership Program (CCLDP) at Morgan State University, Dr. McPhail was responsible for graduating more than 60 doctoral students in less than a 10 year time period. The number of graduates included a record-setting number of African Americans receiving doctoral degrees in the State of Maryland. Her inspiration and effectiveness gave rise to a national agenda focused on increasing the number of trained professionals for the community college leadership pipeline among peer and smaller institutions (for more information see Breaking Tradition: New Community College Leadership Programs Meet 21st Century Needs; Amey, 2006). McPhail was the recipient of the 2010 AACC National Leadership Award, 2010 League of California Distinguished Alumni Award, and the 2008 League of Innovation‘s Terry O’Banion Leadership Award. Dr. Mary Robinson: Dr. Mary Robinson is Chair, Department of English and Reading. She is a native Baltimorean. For 15 years she taught Special Education for the Baltimore City Public High Schools. Dr. Robinson has a B.S. in Business Administration from Barber-Scotia College, M.S. in Special Education: Reading from Coppin State University, M.S. in Counseling from Loyola College, and a Doctorate Degree in Higher Education Administration with a focus on Community College Leadership from Morgan State University. The focus of her dissertation was Faculty Development in Public Community Colleges. Currently, Dr. Robinson is a Department Chair and Professor of Reading. In her role as Department Chair she is the facilitator of the English and Reading Department at the Germantown campus. Mary is a member of several higher education and professional organizations, which include the Developmental Education Association of Maryland (DEAM), National Association of Development Education (NADE), The Chair Academy, as well as the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Dr. Harriette Dudley: Dr. Dudley is the Program Chair, Early Childhood, Lateral Entry, Teacher Licensure Renewal. She joined the College as public services department head/early childhood development instructor in June 2010. She has spent most her career in education - most recently as a professor/coordinator for St. Louis Community College from 2000 - 2010. Prior to that she was the early childhood education coordinator for Southern Illinois University, and a pre-K and elementary teacher for the Norfolk public schools. She began her career as a special services supervisor for the Human Development Corporation (Head Start). She holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Missouri - Columbia in Columbia, Missouri, a master of arts in teaching from Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA, and a doctor of education from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. She authored an article, "The Cohort Leadership Development Model: Student Perspectives," that appeared in the April 2008 Community College Journal of Research and Practice. She received the phenomenal woman award from the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority in 2009, the service excellence award from St. Louis Community College in 2009 and the teacher of the year award from the Sentinel Newspaper in 2008. | ||
