Biography

Professional & Academic Overview
 

Collin D. Cox is a Ph.D. candidate, lead instructor, and researcher at the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University. His research interests include leadership, ethics, organizational theory, public management, and higher education. Prior to his doctoral studies, Collin worked as a manager in the Provost Office at the University of Kansas, where he also earned a bachelor’s and master’s in public administration. In his most recent work, Collin explores the role of dissent, guerrilla government, and transgressive leadership in the public sector. For his dissertation, Collin explores the role of ethical disobedience in leadership and how dissent and transgressive behaviors buffer poor policy and leadership directives in organizations. An article from his dissertation entitled Leading with Dissent: Guerrilla Government and the Ethical Art of Disobedience was recently published in the Public Management Review.

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Teaching Philosophy

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Collin's teaching philosophy is centered on training and empowering students through experiential learning techniques. In his courses, Collin uses a mix of new and traditional learning methods to encourage high performance, including collaborative projects, field assignments, essays, quizzes, games, and extra credit activities. These assignments also include experiential and collaborative learning activities to build student competencies in Public Administration theory and practice. The aim of diversifying these assessment tools are in part to accommodate student learning preferences and growth-oriented mindsets (derived from psychology research on Mindsets) as well as in fostering strong engagement and quality work in low-risk, yet high-expectation learning environments. ​
 

Personal Information​

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Collin was born in Neodesha, Kansas and comes from a family of public administrators. His dad is currently a city manager in Douglas, Wyoming and his sister works as a project manager for the Nature Conservancy. Outside of research and teaching, Collin enjoys cooking, spending time in nature, traveling, gardening, socializing with friends and colleagues, and spending time with his partner, Jarrett, and dog, Gizmo. His personal interests are strongly tied to his professional and academic endeavors, being an openly-gay researcher and academic in the state of Florida, where the infamous "Don't Say Gay" and "Stope WOKE Act" bills were passed. His research centers on legally questionable topics in the state, including social equity and justice as well as dissent and disobedience. In his spare time, Collin enjoys mentoring students and aiding undergraduate students for graduate and career success. 

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Please feel free to reach out if you would like to talk research, job opportunities, or to simply to say hello! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and I look forward to getting the opportunity to learn more about you.

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