Online Doctoral Cohort Mentors: Model Implementation and Evaluation

Abstract

Doctoral students benefit extensively from direct mentorship throughout their degree programs and this mentorship can be particularly beneficial for doctoral students completing their degrees in the online format. This study provides an analysis of the implementation of a Doctoral Cohort Mentor Model at the Online Campus of a mid-sized University. Internal and external needs of online doctoral students were explored. Further, online faculty needs and the experience of the initial group of mentors were evaluated utilizing the focus group method. Data were examined utilizing qualitative coding procedures and the results are discussed in the context of relevant theories pertaining to internal and external aspects of motivation.