Report Portion Essay
Report Portion Essay
Does your team think the changes will last, and do they think the president will succeed in building a pace-setting university? Provide a rationale for the team’s position on both questions.
Reading below
Warrick, D. D. (2009). Changing a university: Large-scale change. In Rothwell, W. J., Stavros, J. M., Sullivan, R. L., & Sullivan, A. (Eds.). Practicing organization development: A guide for leading change. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
USW1_IPSY_6214_Week09_warrick_ChangingUniversity.pdf
CHANGING A UNIVERSITY: LARGE SCALE CHANGE
D.D. WARRICK
Colleges and universities are at a cross roads. Many will have to reinvent themselves to respond to the changing delivery and technology of education and others will need to make significant changes to remain relevant and viable and to attract and retain dedicated students, faculty, staff and sufficient resources. Otherwise, they will face the very real prospects of declining enrollments and resources and struggling to survive as a shrinking organization that is behind the times. In short, those college and universities that are willing to make needed changes and invest in learning how to lead and manage change and build a culture that welcomes and effectively and quickly adapts to needed change will reap the rewards and the rest will reap the consequences of not changing or changing too slowly. Imagine, for example, the advantage a college or university would have if they had a clear vision and mission, clear strategic goals designed to help them succeed in today’s changing times, united leaders skilled in transforming organizations, and faculty, staff, students, and supporters working together to create a great college or university. On the other hand, imagine what it would be like to work in an organization where budgets, resources, and programs are being slashed and you may be the next to go! The Challenge: Accomplishing Transformational Change In A Setting Rarely Designed For Change The dilemma is that colleges and universities are not typically designed for change. They are staffed by independent minded, free thinking faculty who operate somewhat like independent contractors rather than team players committed to the organization’s goals and who often distrust their leaders. They also tend to have unusually bureaucratic, regulated, and slow moving structures and governance procedures that make it difficult to change without endless meetings attended by people with differing agendas. Add to this the relatively autonomous department design with few incentives to collaborate and it is easy to see why change is so difficult. In fact, a viable question to consider is can colleges and universities be changed and transformed??? Overlooked Resources For Making Needed Changes The irony about the struggle colleges and universities have with change is that they often have within their walls some of the best expertise available regarding organization development, leading and managing change, and building high performance organizations that get great results. Many different departments such as Business, Public Administration, Education, Psychology, Sociology, and Communications teach these subjects and some colleges and universities are well known for their executive education seminars on the subjects. Curiously, most of the top experts and authors in the world on these subjects are college and university faculty members. While colleges and universities rarely avail themselves of these resources that may sit at their doorsteps, it should be emphasized that the expertise needed to help them make needed changes is available, whether internal or external, and often at a cost that is far less than the alternatives they are likely to choose and that are unlikely to succeed for adapting to changing times. The Case Of Central University Central University (not the actual name) is a case in point of a university that recognized the need for change and decided to launch an all out effort to change and position itself for future success. The university has an overall enrollment approaching 30,000 with approximately 20,000 students on campus and 10,000