Paper Title
Experiences Of Doctoral Students In An Integrated Research Supervision Model (IRSM)

Abstract
Universities for a number of decades have been using the Apprentice Master Model which has produced many graduates at both Masters and doctoral levels. However the use of this model have seen scores of students enrolled in these programmes, irrespective of discipline, fail to complete their studies within record time and most of them drop out completely. In order to mitigate for elongated years of study and eventually drop out of postgraduate students, the Collaborative Cohort Model (CCM) for research supervision was pursued as an alternative to the Apprentice Master Model (AMM). Weaknesses in this model were also detected, hence universities started integrating the two models for the students to benefit from the strengths of both models. For the purposes of this study the combined This study sought to determine the doctoral students experiences with CCM as a strategy pursued by the Universities to deal with the concerns about completion rates, drop out and the and the quality of research supervision. The study adopted a qualitative research design whereby purposefully sampled 14 doctoral students participated in a focus group interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings from the cohort of doctoral students who have experienced the model reveal that it promotes peer engagement, Key words - Supervision, Collaborative Cohort Model, Apprentice Master Model