She served as an associate professor of educational leadership at the UNC Charlotte College of Education from 2002 to 2009 and as a visiting and adjunct associate professor of public law and government at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. McColl has served as legislative director for the State Board of Education and as general counsel for the North Carolina Association of Educators. She is currently an attorney at Everett Gaskins Hancock in Raleigh.