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Members of Auburn University's educational leadership program at the doctoral level have created a new framework for learning and sharing knowledge, experience, and support. This framework is shared among the doctoral candidates in the form of series of core classes called "doctoral cohort." This paper captures the essence of the educational leadership doctoral cohort program at Auburn University, Alabama, by describing the doctoral cohort experience as viewed through Bolman's and Deal's (1993) four leadership frames: political, structural, human resource, and symbolic. Furthermore, this essay puts forth metaphors within each frame in order to underscore the value of the cohort experience. (Contains 1 note.)

Educational leadership redesign efforts have been numerous in recent years. Scholars have reported descriptions of these redesigns and have included important and relevant program improvements (Brooks, Reames, & Reed, 2010; Browne-Ferrigno, 2011; Buttram & Doolittle, 2015; Mountford & Acker-Hocevar, 2013; Phillips, 2013), unique features of exemplary programs (Darling-Hammond, L., LaPointe, M., Meyerson, D., & Orr, M. T., 2007), international perspectives (Jean-Marie & Normore, 2010). These have included the perspective of K-12 partners; university scholars, deans and state department of education officials but none have examined redesign from the educational leadership program coordinator perspective.

Calls for changing educational leadership preparation have led many state policy makers to initiate program redesign efforts; the governor of Alabama constituted a working group to examine the situation and develop recommendations. This article details the school leadership preparation program redesign process in Alabama from the perspective of faculty at one university. The article presents an overview of the design process, basic program tenets, and manner in which one set of university faculty engaged in this endeavor. It also presents facilitating and hindering factors, compares redesigned program with previous program, and aligns the redesigned program with best practices. (Contains 1 table.)