1. Jane Cobia is a Professor, Director of the EdS Program and External Partnerships for the School of Education, and was director of the EdD program for 4 years at Samford University. Dr. Cobia spent 25 years in the public education arena and was a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, education specialist for the Alabama State Department of Education, and superintendent. She has served as an education consultant for school improvement, on ASCD Board of Directors, and is certified as a superintendent mentor trainer.  She has taught as an adjunct of graduate level courses since 2010 for Jacksonville State University, (prior to that at University of Montevallo, and Auburn University at Montgomery), is Executive Director for Alabama ASCD, the treasurer for Sylacauga Rotary Club, and a founding member of the Marble Valley DAR.  She serves on numerous boards and is active in professional and civic organizations Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement, CLAS, ASCD, KDP, Boy Scouts of America, Omicron Delta Kappa.

As a pre-K – 12 school leader, she was dedicated to student achievement and professional learning for faculty and staff.  Dr. Cobia wrote and secured millions of dollars in grant funding for use in instruction, curricula, career technical education, and safety areas.  She served on numerous state, regional and national committees that studied ways to increase student success through use of instructional strategies and technology.  She was the Alabama representative to the National Center for Education Statistics for six years and formed professional networks across the country.  She was an advocate for pre-K programs and had two of the first programs in Alabama in Sylacauga City Schools.  She also developed innovative Career Technical programs in three school systems and two alternative schools in partnership with the juvenile court system.

In her 9 years at Samford, Dr. Cobia has had 17 peer reviewed articles and 26 non-peer reviewed articles published; 1 book published September 2015 and another one published August 2018; 27 international/national/district professional presentations; 18 state presentations; and as team member with Auburn University, the University of Alabama and the Alabama State Department of Education secured a $1.9 million grant from the United States Department of Education for training administrators to lead Turnaround Schools in Rural Alabama.

She has served on the Nominations and Leadership Development Committee for Kappa Delta Pi, numerous committees for ASCD, the CLAS Board of Directors, chair of 46 dissertation committees and as committee member on 19 dissertation committees, chair Diversity Committee OBB School of Education and member University Diversity Committee, chair Curriculum committee OBB School of Education and member University Curriculum Committee, member University SACS committee, and member University Library Work Group.

Areas of specialization include:  fiscal planning and budgeting, curriculum and instruction, organizational dynamics, team building, facility design and planning, leadership training, professional development, coaching and mentoring.