CONSIDER. COMPARE. CHOOSE.

DECOMMISSION YOUR STUDENT SERVICE SILOS:

A Student Services Journey

kwantlen.ca

Dr. John Marasigan, psychology faculty member, shares in the excitement of convocation as graduates prepare for the ceremony.

KWANTLEN FACTS & STATS

• Established in 1981.

• Four campuses in BC: Richmond, Surrey, Cloverdale, and Langley

• Almost 1,000,000 sq, ft. of campus space.

• Approximately 17,000 students annually.

• Over 135 programs, 30 services, 21 degrees and 21 associate degrees.

• More than 1,400 faculty and staff .

• Kwantlen School of Business is the second largest in Western Canada

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WHERE IS KWANTLEN?

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WHERE IS KWANTLEN?

WHERE IS KWANTLEN?

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OVERVIEW1. Historical challenges

• Kwantlen• Student Services

2. Good To Great Principles3. Dynamic Achievement Principles4. A Learning Organization5. 2001 – present: decommissioning the silos

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KWANTLEN’S CONTEXT: CHALLENGES

• Leadership and Organizational Changes• Retirement of key members of senior leadership• Re-organization of vice president portfolios• New university president

• Multi-Campus Institution

• New Strategic Directions • New university status

• Changing Post-Secondary Climate• Accountability outcomes• Competition• Shrinking Market

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DIVISIONAL ISSUES: LEADERSHIP CHANGES

• New Registrar

• New management team:

• From Associate Registrar to a Director’s team

• New Manager positions created

• Reorganized Coordinator positions

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DIVISIONAL ISSUES: MULTIPLE CAMPUSES

• Over 100 employees in Student Services, spread across 4 campuses

• Unique campus cultures: different student needs on each campus

• The majority of Administrative units located centrally on one campus

• Need for consistency across all campuses

• HEAVY reliance on e-mail as a means of disseminating information

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DIVISIONAL ISSUES: PARADIGM SHIFT

• Shifting focus from “processing” to delivering quality service

• A shifting set of responsibilities and focus associated with some positions

• A variety of skill sets among existing staff

“…higher education suffers ‘paradigm paralysis’ – an embedded adherence to a model that rejects change.”

~ College Student Journal (1998)

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THE CHALLENGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

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GOOD TO GREATLevel 5 leaders

• Hiring the right people• Confronting the brutal facts• Using the hedgehog concept• A culture of discipline

DYNAMIC ACHIEVEMENT• Be vertical: you have the power to choose• Working towards our core values

A LEARNING ORGANIZATION• Commitment to our vision of the future • 4+ Paradigm approach

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LEVEL 5 LEADERS

LEVEL 5 EXECUTIVEBuilds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

EFFECTIVE LEADERCatalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

COMPETENT MANAGEROrganizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBERContributes individual capabilities to the achievement or group of objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

HIGHLY CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.

5

4

3

2

1

~ Jim Collins

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GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE “ON THE BUS”

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CONFRONTING THE BRUTAL FACTS

• Service-level numbers “then”• The office of “NO”• Red tape of bureaucracy• Silos• Wrong bus• No data, no data, no data

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USING THE HEDGEHOG CONCEPTThe hedgehog and the fox:

• The fox knows many things

• The hedgehog knows one BIG thing

~ Jim Collins

resource

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A CULTURE OF DISCIPLINE

1. DISCIPLINED PEOPLE• Freedom and responsibility• Self-discipline• Focus on the hedgehog concept

• Create a “stop doing” list•Performance assessment

• Comment cards• Peer feedback • Employee performance evaluations

2. DISCIPLINED THOUGHT • Data, data, data• Culture of evidence

3. DISCIPLINED ACTION

“…disciplined people, who engage

in disciplined thought, and who

then take disciplined action.”

~ Jim Collins

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CHANGE• Cultural & Operating

Practices• Specific Goals &

Strategies

“Enduring great [organizations] preserve their core values and purpose while their business strategies and operating practices endlessly adapt to a changing world. This is the magical combination of ‘preserve the core and stimulate progress’.”

~Jim Collins

NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF OUR CORE VALUES

PRESERVE• Core Values• Core Purpose

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STUDENT SERVICES: WHY DO WE EXIST?

Our vision:In promoting life-long learning, members of Student Services provide quality service and create outstanding experiences for our community.

Our mission: We provide information, guidance and direction to our community in an accessible, supportive environment that encourages learning.

Our values: We value a sense of community where all members are respectful of each other. As a community, we strive for open communication in the promotion of creativity and initiative.

KWANTLEN:WHY DO WE EXIST?

Kwantlen’s mission:

We create an exceptional learning environment committed to preparing learners for leadership, service and success.

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THE CONCEPT OF BEING VERTICAL

The power to choose

~ Eitan Sharir

A LEARNING ORGANIZATION

• Rewards risk taking and supports creative thinking in its employees

• Has a clear institutional vision and maximizes its resources

• Empowers staff to think systemically

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~ Kline & Saunders

Commitment to Our Vision of the Future• The 90% Solution• Learning takes time• Quality Service takes time

A Four-Plus Paradigm Approach:1. Building Trust2. Empowering Employees3. Eliminating Unnecessary Tasks4. Developing a New Way of Thinking

“…Students who graduate with memories of frustrating lineups to pay fees or switch classes are not generous alumni.”

~ National Post, October, 2002

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BACK TO 2001 . . .

. . . DECOMMISSION BEGINS

DECOMMISSIONING PAST PRACTICES• Top down style of leadership; leadership not shared

• Organizational structure that was not designed with Quality Service in mind

• The rest of the institution saw us as the “no people”

• Lack of attention to a hiring philosophy

• Performance assessments rarely done or done only when there is a problem employee

• Staff feeling “out of the loop”

• Lack of opportunity for rapid response/input

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• Heavy reliance on regularly scheduled, lengthy, face-to-face meetings (often led in a top-down fashion)

• Opportunities for positive conflict not embraced

• Lack of strategic planning for upcoming program offerings

• A disconnect between program offerings and service delivery

• Silos within divisions of our office and silos between divisions in our office

• Walls, Walls and more Walls

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WHERE ARE ALL THE WALLS?

• Retreats with a Service Focus

• The value of front line service - Admissions front counter positions reevaluated to same level as Admissions Assistants

• Hiring Practices – shift in process and thinking:- Behaviour Developmental questions- Multi-tiered (pre-interview, assignment, testing, interview)

• Performance Assessments:- Regularized once per year; all staff- New form – dumped the tick boxes and now use narrative format- New section added: Quality Service!

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TUMBLING SILOS

• Rewrote all job descriptions for managers

• Staff terminations

• Change in hours of operation

• Improved tracking of service offerings

• Recognition is just a simple e-mail away!

• Structural Reorganization:- From silos to teams- From Admissions; to Office of the Registrar; to Student Services

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TUMBLING SILOS (con’t)

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DISCIPLINED ACTION

• Leveraging Level 5 Leaders.

• Building allies – some Faculty love data.

• Small wins, conservative steps.

• Boost camp, Early Alert, Student For a Day…and more!

It’s a flywheel . . .

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I

DATA

THE FLYWHEEL

DISCIPLINED PEOPLE

DISCIPLINED THOUGHT

DISCIPLINED ACTION

I

DATA

RECOMMENDED READINGS

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• Good To Great

By Jim Collins

• Activate Your Power

By Eitan Sharir

• Ten Steps to a Learning Organization

By Peter Kline and Bernard Saunders

• Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable

By Patrick Lencioni

QUESTIONS?Joshua Mitchell Director, Enrolment Services .mitchell@kwantlen.ca

Jody Gordon Associate Vice President, Student Services & Registrarjody.gordon@kwantlen.ca

Kwantlen Polytechnic University12666 72nd Avenue, Surrey BC, Canada V3W 2M8

kwantlen.ca