A Qualitative Evaluation of the Commissioners Court Leadership Academy

Abstract

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service created the V.G. Young Institute of County Government to provide educational programs for Texas county officials. The Commissioners Court Leadership Academy (CCLA) is a two-year leadership development program that provides leadership education and development for Texas county commissioners and judges, having implications for community leadership and service throughout the state. The CCLA program has not been evaluated on any level since its creation in 2005. Also, there is a gap in the literature as it pertains to the evaluation of agricultural leadership development programs for county government.

The purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluation of the CCLA program, identify impacts of the program, and determine potential ways to improve the program. The study used qualitative research methods to explore the experiences and opinions of 11 graduates of the CCLA program representing different classes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants of this study, and documents were collected from the participants to document impacts of the program. Common themes were formed from the data collection. It was found that participants described the CCLA program based on their factors for why they chose to participate, the program’s structure in terms of sessions and time, and the program’s execution in terms of the met objectives and factors for success. It was also found that participants described the impacts of the CCLA program as affective outcomes, behavioral outcomes, and cognitive outcomes. An overarching outcome of the CCLA program that affected other impacts of the program for participants was their gained network of relationships.

According to the findings of this study, the CCLA program has identified strengths as well as areas for improvement. The researcher made several recommendations for further research and changes to the program based on the study’s conclusions. This study provides the CCLA program with a more complete outlook of the program’s merits, deficiencies, impacts, and areas for improvement or change.