fostering effective institutional change presented at the council of independent colleges 2004...

FOSTERING EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Presented at theCouncil of Independent Colleges

2004 Institute for Chief Academic Officers andChief Financial Officers

Sunday, October 31, 2004

James E. Morley, Jr., President Dr. Jay Simmons, Vice President for Academic AffairsNational Association of College and University Business Officers LaGrange College

Phyllis Whitney, Executive Vice President for AdministrationLaGrange College

Copyright 2004, NACUBO

WHY MUST SENIOR COLLEGE

LEADERS BE SKILLED

AT MANAGING CHANGE?


SIGNALS OF TRANSFORMATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

• American higher education has become a major “industry,” transforming from more of a “cottage” industry.

• Higher education markets are increasingly consumer-driven rather than producer-driven.

• Competition is increasing rapidly, including from non-traditional institutions.


SIGNALS OF TRANSFORMATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

(continued)

• Public policy changes have brought reduced financial and political support, prompting tuition price increases at an unsustainable rate.

• Higher education is resistant to change, especially adaption to new technologies, even proven ones.

WHAT IS NEEDED FOR HIGHER EDUCATION TO RESPOND TO

CONTINUOUS CHANGE?

We must think holistically and methodically and act cross-functionally, particularly in aligning academic and administrative functions.



BOC HOLDS PROMISE TOHELP COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

SUCCESSFULLY ANTICIPATE AND MEET INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES AND MAKE

IT STICK.


BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY (BOC)

BOC provides a set of conceptual and practical tools that colleges and

universities can use to craft systematic, comprehensive, and

sustained responses to institutional challenges.


HOW DOES BOC HELP LEADERS BUILDAND SUSTAIN ORGANIZATIONAL

CAPACITY?BOC promotes a disciplined and all-inclusive way of thinking and acting by considering eight interrelated elements:

– Mission, Vision, and Goals– Governance– Structure– Policies and Practices– Processes– Systems– Infrastructure– Culture


CONCEPTUAL MODEL (BOC AS A WAY OF THINKING)

• The eight elements “cover the waterfront” reflecting all of the functions and stakeholders involved in a successful initiative.

• When institutions or units consider the eight BOC elements simultaneously in planning and implementation, they increase the likelihood that an initiative will be effective and lasting, surviving transitions in executive leadership.



• Functions and approaches more naturally align when institutions or units recognize the connections between and among the eight elements.

• BOC helps campus leaders balance the “what” and the “how,” bridging the academic and the administrative sides of the institution.



• BOC is grounded in the intellectual traditions of strategic management and organizational change, integrating and synthesizing them.

• But neither tradition is fully satisfactory in anticipating and responding to challenges in higher education.

• Current models and frameworks are too conceptual, lacking in the concrete elements that make them accessible.

• Or they are sufficiently concrete but are developed for a

sector, whether for-profit or non-profit, other than higher education.


PRACTICAL TOOLS(OR A WAY TO DECIDE AND ACT)

• BOC draws on case studies showcasing a variety of initiatives across the full range of American higher education institutions.

• The cases illustrate the holistic and systematic thinking required to lead successful initiatives with sustained results.

• BOC offers a common vocabulary to facilitate conversations between functional areas of institutions and between institutions of different types.


BUILDING CAPACITY AND SUSTAINING CHANGE

BOC encourages the vitality of institutions and sustainability of initiatives by building

real capacity across organizations, particularly in bridging academic and

administrative units and functions.

A Project of the National Association of College and University Business Officers

BOC Case StudyLAGRANGE COLLEGE

LaGrange, Georgia


THE SETTING: LAGRANGE COLLEGE

• Located an hour southwest of Atlanta, LaGrange College is a private, four-year liberal arts college and is the oldest independent institution of higher learning in Georgia.

• The college enrolls about 1,000 students, representing 20 states and 12 countries.

• LaGrange offers 50 academic and pre-professional programs for

undergraduates, including a masters of arts in teaching degree.

• U.S. News and World Report ranks LaGrange among the South's top comprehensive colleges and among that category's top ten "best values.”



• LaGrange has structured its curriculum on a 4-1-4 model, offering a January interim term aimed at providing students with the opportunity to explore a given topic in depth.

• Its average student-faculty ratio is 11:1.

• In 2003, the faculty included 62 full-time and 39 part-time members.

• Faculty act as academic advisors for students and LaGrange does not use graduate student teaching assistants.



To achieve its vision, LaGrange has set the following goals, termed “vision indicators,” to be achieved by 2012:

Enroll 1,200 students with 1,000 of these enrolled in the traditional undergraduate day program

House 800 traditional day students on campus Enroll entering first-year classes with an average SAT of at least

1,100 Maintain a first-year to sophomore retention rate of at least 80

percent Maintain a six-year graduation rate at or above 60 percent Have over 50 percent of students major in a traditional liberal arts

degree program Employ a faculty with 10 or more members in Phi Beta Kappa Maintain an undergraduate degree-holder giving rate of 30

percent


THE INITIATIVE: ENHANCING SCHOLARSHIP

• LaGrange College has identified enhancing faculty scholarship and integrating student research into the curriculum as strategic initiatives.

• The college is considering reducing its teaching load from 24 credit hours per year to 21-hours, even in the context of adding 100 students.


LAGRANGE CASE AS ILLUSTRATIONOF BOC PRINCIPLES

•LaGrange is relatively early in the process but is committed to framing its initiative holistically, viewing the institution as an overall system.

•The college has paid attention to aligning academic and administrative functions, and has acted systematically and cross-functionally.


EIGHT INTERRELATED ELEMENTS• Mission, Vision, and Goals (fundamental purposes and

significant aspirations)

• Governance (who makes what decision; exercising authority)

• Structure (organizing and aligning people and activities)

• Policies and Practices (rules, formal and informal)

• Processes (means to realize goals)

• Systems (supporting information to inform processes)

• Infrastructure (human, physical, and financial support assets)

• Culture (essential personality; norms, values,

beliefs)


LAGRANGEMISSION/VISION/GOALS

• LaGrange’s fundamental purposes and significant aspirations were clear before considering the scholarship initiative and faculty load reduction.

The college seeks to be the best liberal arts college in Georgia and among the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in the region.

• Its goals are consistent with its mission and vision (for example, building a new library).


LAGRANGEMISSION/VISION/GOALS

(continued)• A key challenge of the Executive Team is making

sure that its vision and goals are not more advanced than its capacity, such as faculty culture.

• A key challenge for the Chief Academic Officer and Chief Financial Officer—keeping vision and goals aligned with capacity

Governance Processes Culture


LAGRANGEGOVERNANCE

• LaGrange has aligned its governance with its vision and goals, developing a model more akin to the leading liberal arts colleges in the region that it aspires to be more like.

• The college has flattened decision-making, encouraging faculty to assume greater responsibility.

• The marker of effective governance is clarity in who is making what decisions and through what means. This must include faculty if LaGrange is going to realize its vision.


LAGRANGEGOVERNANCE (continued)

• For a more inclusive governance goal to work, the president and cabinet must reconsider or change related to Processes Culture Structure


LAGRANGE STRUCTURE

• The college is developing a governance structure that encourages faculty participation in setting policy and making decisions.

• LaGrange has merged seven academic divisions into four to better fit its vision of becoming a selective liberal arts college.


LAGRANGE STRUCTURE (continued)

• To create and sustain new governance and academic division Policies and Practices Processes Infrastructure


LAGRANGEPOLICIES AND PRACTICES

• The college is strengthening administrative operations, including through implementing various formal policies for purchasing, human resources, financial systems, etc., as well as for promotion and tenure.


LAGRANGEPOLICIES AND PRACTICES (continued)

• Improved administrative operations, promotion and tenure require change and collaboration around Policies and Practices Processes Infrastructure Culture


LAGRANGEPROCESSES

•LaGrange recently instituted a formal faculty evaluation process and merit pay system. Both initiatives are linked with developing the type of faculty that LaGrange will need to realize its vision.


LAGRANGEPROCESSES (continued)

• To realize its vision will require Policies and Practices Infrastructure Culture Systems


LAGRANGESYSTEMS

• Communication is strong at LaGrange, particularly that involving the president, and encourages influence by faculty and others in making decisions and setting policy.

• The college is using information more effectively, as with the feedback loops in the strategic plan, regular evaluation of financial processes, and the elevating of the institutional research function.

• LaGrange will need to develop a robust assessment program to measure outcomes with the new faculty and curricular initiatives.


LAGRANGESYSTEMS (continued)

• To strengthen communications, information, and assessment systems requires consideration of Policies and Practices Processes Infrastructure Culture


LAGRANGEINFRASTRUCTURE

• LaGrange is linking its building program to its curricular and other goals. The library, for instance, is connected with attracting even better students and encouraging more faculty scholarship and student research.

• The college has hired faculty with teacher-scholar model in mind.

• The college has paid attention to administrative infrastructure, placing the right people in the right places and building a strong financial operations infrastructure.


LAGRANGEINFRASTRUCTURE (continued)

• To ensure critical infrastructure components such as new buildings, additional faculty, and administrative support match the mission, consideration is also needed for Policies and Practices Processes Culture Systems Structure


LAGRANGECULTURE

• The culture at LaGrange continues to evolve in a manner connected with the mission, vision, and goals of the institution, especially the culture associated with the teacher-scholar approach that marks the most prestigious liberal arts colleges nationally.


LAGRANGECULTURE (continued)

• Major culture adaptation requires consideration of all other seven BOC elements Mission, Vision, and Goals Governance Structure Policies and Practices Processes Systems Infrastructure


BOC TO DATE

• Enthusiastic and growing endorsement by higher education leaders and major higher education associations.

• Conceptual framework of eight critical organizational characteristics developed and vetted through four pilot cases: The College of New Jersey, Virginia Tech, LaGrange College, Seminole Community College


BOC TO DATE

• Major federal support awarded by the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE).

• Three presentations to campus presidents and chief academic and business officers scheduled for Fall 2004.

• SungardSCT is committed to develop a Web site and robust information technology infrastructure, including a collaboration platform.


BOC TO DATE

• Steering Committee: chaired by former Syracuse Chancellor Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw; October 26 meeting

• Editorial Board: chaired by Marvin Lazerson, Professor and former Dean and Provost, the University of Pennsylvania

• Research Team: nine faculty from higher education administration programs nationally


WHAT IS NEXT?

• The research team is developing six more cases during Spring, 2005.

• These will be published in a manual exploring the conceptual bases and practical uses of the BOC approach.

• We will continue to introduce our approach to presidents, senior administrators, and others through presentations, articles, and other means.

• We will launch our Web site: www.buildingorganizationcapacity.org


WHAT IS NEXT?• We will move into the second phase of the

project in Fall, 2005, focusing on application.

We will use our approach, as validated through the ten case studies, to build a national network of institutions using the BOC framework to shape initiatives that are “built to last.”

The centerpiece of the network will be four-day NACUBO institutes at the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia to train working groups from participating institutions

in the application of the BOC approach.


WHAT IS NEXT? The working groups will apply what they

learn immediately, working through a carefully defined actual problem toward a deliverable while in Athens – an action plan.

They will present the action plan by the end of the institute before taking it back to campus for immediate implementation.

There will then be considerable follow-up, both by a team of experts and through facilitated and informal Web-based contact between and among those participating.


WHAT IS NEXT?

We invite you to form an ad hoc group interested in continuing this conversation about how to build organizational capacity.

If interested, please contact Craig Dellorso at NACUBO:202-861-2590 or [email protected]

fostering effective institutional change presented at the council of independent colleges 2004...

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organizational change

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