Riding the NxtWave to Library Leadership: Two Participants Reflect on their Experiences

Abstract

The NxtWave program, begun in 2014, was designed to create the next generation of school library leaders. Sixteen doctoral students from four universities participated in the program which included four school library specific cognate courses offered online. This paper uses a phenomenological approach to evaluate the program and the experiences of the participants. Additionally, the findings are used to provide suggestions for improvement of future iterations of the NxtWave program. These suggestions would also be beneficial to similar online doctoral programs.