Julie Thompson KleinWayne State University

Oregon State University12 November 2010

The Mantra of ID

Advances in knowledge and innovation Solution to societal problems New interests and questions New fields and teaching areas Integration, connection, collaboration Competitiveness in funding Niche identity

Patterns of Growth

SSRC-Teagle 2006 study: IDS in

liberal education (Rhoten) Brint, Turk-Bicakci, Proctor, & Murphy:

IDS degrees 1975 to 2000 2005 data on MD/ID studies from National

Center for Education Statistics and 2010 Classification of Instructional Programs

NRC taxonomy for doctoral programs AACU on general education reform

Deeply embedded cultural issues• “small but persistent ‘drag’”• “accumulation of disadvantage”

• weak arguments• thin evidence and data• shallow knowledge base• underdeveloped plans• under-identified activities• under-identified interests• under-leveraged resources• continuing barriers• weak decision-making• limited outcomes• marginal efforts

Architecture for a Strong Networked Operating System• Both structure and behavior• Both transformative and incremental approaches• Both strategic targeting and general loosening of barriers• Orchestration of top-down, mid-, and bottom up- levels

• Upper-level administration, strategic planning, policy• Mid-lower level planning, management,

performance, evaluation• Individual, small group, project- and program-level

The Wisdom of Jerry GaffDeep Structuring

Key Concepts

• Burton Clark: gap between older simplified expectationsand new complex realities that outrun them

• Trowler & Knight: contextual simplification vs.unique and dynamic cultural configurations

• Keith Clayton: overt vs. concealed interdisciplinarity

• Charles Lemert: surface vs. shadow structure• J. Hillis Miller: hidden university

• Brown & Duguid: canonical practices vs complexity,variability, and divergence in the “rough terrain”

• Aldo Firpo: “points of multidisciplinary convergence”

National and Local Mapping

? Pertinent histories and communities of practice? Forms they take on campus? Continuity and shifts over time? Representation on official maps of campus

? Overt ID and surface structure? Concealed reality and shadow structure? “Looped into” local infrastructure? Diffused interests and distributed ID intelligence

Oversight

Variables of Change•

• Nature of the institution• Institutional culture• Nature and level of the change• Requirements of the change • Material and human resources

Strategies of Change•

• Toombs and Tierney:modification, integration, transformation

• Watzlawick, Weakland, Fisch:second- vs. first-order change

• Davidson: small changes <> big ideas• NAS report:

both incremental and transformational

Resource Banking

Strength and Sustainability

• benchmarking best practices• identifying points of convergence • leveraging existing resources • building capacity and critical mass• platforming and scaffolding architecture

for a networked campus• creating a resource bank• deep structuring of a

robust portfolio of strategies

The “B” Word

$trategie$

• View space as a “fungible asset” (NAS 2004).• Use indirect cost recover to seed and support.• Partner for ID strength and solidarity.• Work closely with offices of development.• Invest in central oversight and greater efficiencies.• Network with external groups.• Bridge research and the curriculum.

Lowell Low – No Cost Ideas

• Assign every ID program a distinct prefix.• Make visible and accessible (website, catalog, directory)• “Loop” ID programs into the Registrar's Office.• Clarify processes for program creation, course approval,

mirroring process in place for other programs.• Invite ID Program directors and coordinators to attend

Chair and Dean meetings.• Include in Open House and Student Orientation.• Create fair and consistent system for assigning FTE's for

team-taught courses.