Need for institutional change

Mott Community College is a dynamic institution that leads

community colleges around the country in many different academic
areas. They were named one of the top community colleges in that
nation by the Aspen Institute in 2013. As an administrator of the
college and a constituent of the college there is one area that I feel the
institution needs to have a major change in. This is in the area of
curriculum policy development. At MCC there are 3 curriculum bodies
that approve recommendations to create and change policy. All three
of these bodies are faculty driven and faculty ran. This is a strength
because faculty should be the driving forces in curriculum design and
development. However, the change that needs to take place is the
process they use to approve academic policy.
Over the past couple years, there have been 3 major policies passed
where there were implementation issues. Student Services is never
solicited for input during the approval process. This has caused
student outrage, implementation delays, the lack of implementation in
one case. Student enrollment timelines have been negatively affected.
Student satisfaction surveys have blasted the Student Services
operations over the past 2 years speaking directly to these policies and
the effect it has had on them during the enrollment and reenrollment
processes. The president has an open forum each semester where
students are allowed to voice opinions, comments, and concerns or ask

questions. The past student forum there were over a dozen direct
complaints to the President on Student Services which could have been
avoided if Student Services had a voice at the table on policy
implementation.

Organizational Culture
The organizational culture at Mott Community College (MCC) is one
with over 90 years of ingrained artifacts, values and assumptions.
Scheins model tells us that, Assumptions represent taken-for-granted
beliefs about reality and human nature. Values are social principles,
philosophies, goals and standards considered to have intrinsic worth.
Artifacts are the visible, tangible, and audible results of activity
grounded in values and assumptions. In Scheins words culture is,
the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented,
discovered, or developed in learning to cope with its problems of
external adaptation and internal integration, and that have worked well
enough to be considered valid, and, therefore, to be taught to new
members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to
these problems. (1985)

As outlined in section one of this paper, MCC has a history of passing

curriculum in the best interest of students, without assessing the effect
it will have on students and the enrollment process. In this study, the

focus is on the new mandatory reading level prerequisites set in place

for all 1,000 courses offered at MCC. The curriculum body passed
these requirements because institutional data, Achieving the Dream
data and national trends all support this type of baseline knowledge to
be successful in certain courses. The issue that the policy created was
a bottleneck in the enrollment process. In the past, the Student
Services areas have been able to accommodate major and minor
policy changes because there were resources available to help
implement the new policy. This has created an artifact of believing
that any situation will be accommodated.

Over the past several years, the Student Services budget has been
continually cut. There are not as many resources to move around
within those offices. Faculty and policy makers have seen and heard
their curriculum changes made over and over, year after year, and this
has cemented the artifact. The artifacts that have built up over 90
years have created a cultural belief of successful implementation of
any and all policies. The college culture has set its value base in the
success of students. These values dominate all implementation issues
that Student Services may confront. There are not many good
arguments to support not passing curriculum that supports students.
This is the struggle that the college will have in making this cultural
change. The artifacts, assumptions and values are very strong.

The proposed change that has implementation of the policies involved

in the decision-making process will be one of cultural shock to this
community. The new change will be different in the process of
developing curriculum, getting supporting documentation to propose
the curriculum and in the decision making process of the curriculum.
This will not support the change. However, recent perceived failures
by Student Services may help support this new position. There have
been three curriculum policies over the past two years delayed
because of issues in the delivery of the policy. The first was a charge
for taking the distance learning course a second time. In this case,
Academic Affairs had a hard time figuring out how to establish a fee for
this non-course, course. Student Services was blamed for the delay.
The second was the implementation of waiting lists for all courses. In
this case, there were issues implementing waitlists because of how
quiz and lab sections were assigned to their original lecture section.
Student Services was also blamed for this delay. The third issue is the
one that is being studied in this paper (mandatory reading
prerequisites).

The culture at MCC is tolerant to change. Change moves very slowly

at the college but it does happen when student success is the
foundation for change. The organizational change of embracing

further inputs (implementation) must be delivered and communicated

to the college community as a basis to help student success. The
resistors are going to be those faculty and decision makers that do not
want to be limited in their ability to pass curriculum because of Student
Services. The key to this organizational change will be to show data
and results of students being unsuccessful without the implementation
of new inputs into policy making.

My plan to set the discussion moving on this organizational change will

be to get some of the faculty trailblazers in my corner. I have many
great relationships with movers and shakers in the faculty realm. I will
meet with some of these people individually and explain to them how
students are being affected negatively. I will also be able to show data
that will help support my case by using recent issues already described
in this document. In the MCC organization things move quicker and
more successful by having the faculty leaders on your side. There are
a group of developmental faculty, the union President and other
curriculum moguls that I would use to help buy into this change.

In order for me to implement this organizational change I will use

Lewins Change Management Model. At MCC change usually moves
slowly. However, if it moves too slowly then the change may never
happen. In Lewins model there are three major steps and they fit my

institutions culture. The first is to motivate staff and faculty to make a

change. Any resistance will be fought by using movers and shakers
from across the institution to move on the new norm and this was
explained in the previous paragraph. The second step of this model is
to make the transition. I expect that MCC will need at least one
academic year to make the transition from no input on implementation
to getting input on implementation. This will be a series of meetings
with curriculum and policy makers each month as they meet
respectively. The third step in this process is for the organization to
refreeze. This means that they will become re-normed in the new
concept. With the help of institutional leaders and implementation
taken into account. The college will continue into the new norm.
Building Block: Strategic Framework for Change (Part 1)
Mott Community College is an organic institution that has changed
over the past 90 years. The proposed institutional and cultural change
will help students, faculty, staff, students and policy makers be more
successful in implementing policy changes. The current structure of
passing curriculum and policy changes does not take into account
implementation of the changes being offered. The difference in this
institutional and cultural change will help students be successful by
knowing the change at the time of admission and registration. Staff
and faculty that are involved in the enrollment process will have the

ability to know the changes being made and inform students of the
new changes.

Whatever changes are being made the entire college community that
are affected by the change will have input on the policy at hand. This
creates a dialogue and avoiding possible pitfalls for students or
negative side effects. In any organization, those that have input feel
that ownership of the outcome. I have seen at MCC that this is the
case. It has been a proven method of buy-in and implementation in
the past. The culture does not readily embrace change when they do
not understand what the change is and that they have not had an
opportunity to be part of the solution. With this cultural change, the
age old question of what policy are they passing now? Will be out of
the question.

In five years from now, employees that work across the institution and
especially Student Services will have buy in to most policies that are
passed because the implementation will have been thought out and
not made as a mandate out of the blue. The implementation of new
policies and curriculum will have been developed as part of the process
to approve the new policy. Students and staff will be better informed
and staff will have a direct input on how it is implemented even before
it has been passed. It will no longer be a top down approach. This

change will be a collaborative, informative and in the honor of student

success.

The transformative change project is simply going to be named,

collaborative curriculum policy implementation enhancement project.
The reason that the cultural change title is so simple is because not
one person on campus has the power to fight collaboration, not even
the President. Community Colleges thrive on collaboration and student
success. One person cannot stop institutional collaboration. The
elevator speech is simply to involve all of those people that will benefit
and implement the proposed changes. Student success data will drive
all new policy changes. The hindrance at MCC is not in support of
student success. It is the staff that has to implement the policies that
lead to student success. By having input on implantation, staff will be
more willing to understand and fully support the new policies.

The mission of MCC is, The mission of Mott Community College is

to provide high quality, accessible and affordable educational

opportunities and servicesincluding programs focused on
university transfer, technical and lifelong learning, as well as
workforce and economic developmentthat promote student
success, individual development, and improve the overall quality
of life in a multicultural community. The collaborative policy

implementation approach that I am employing fits the colleges

mission statement by promoting student success and
improvement of the quality of life in a multicultural community.
The goals of this cultural change is to make the curriculum and
policy makers more aware of the implementation issues that their
proposed changes may make on staff and students. The
strategies that I am going to employ is using faculty and staff
leaders to help get buy-in on this cultural change. I will use 3
high profile recent changes that did not get implemented
smoothly. I will also use data showing how implementation issues
affected students during the past three events.
The initiative in this case will begin by holding session for faculty
and staff at the beginning of the academic year during welcome
back week. During this week, all new initiatives are introduced
to the college community. The implementation schedule will
include a pilot during the academic year and full implementation
to take place at the start of the following academic year. This will
fall in line with the normal college culture of major initiative
implementations. I will watch the minutes of monthly meetings
to ensure that each policy committee is getting input from
Student Services on student policies. If these committees are not

including Student Services personnel then I will meet with the

chair of the committee to see if there is something that I can do
to help. I may also take a faculty leader to help support the
inclusion.
This cultural change will be easy to gauge during the first three
months of the fall semester. If policy making bodies are soliciting
input from areas of the college that implement the policies that
they pass then it will be a smooth transition and the timeline will
work out. If they are not cooperative then I will have to intervene
and help keep them on track with the new input process.
Building Block: Strategic Framework for Change (Part 2)
The cultural change of implementation inclusion will take very little
direct financial resources; it will take very little physical plant
resources. However, it will take time and political resources. The good
news is that financial issues are the number one nemesis to
implementing new strategies at Mott Community College. I will not
face this issue. Time, relationships and data will be the biggest
resources needed to help move this transformation along. My position
as the Executive Dean of Student Services is critical to this movement.
I will use my expertise, relationships and student success data to
transform policy making.

There are three curriculum bodies that make policy recommendations

at the college. They are Academic Affairs subcommittee, Curriculum
Policy Study Committee and the Curriculum Design Committee. These
three groups make all of the curriculum decisions at the college. Once
approved through these committees the recommendations are
forwarded to the President of the college for final approval. The
Presidents role is ordinarily a rubber stamp. In ten years at the
college, there has been only one recommendation delayed by the
President and it was because of implementation resources not
accounted for. The delay only lasted for one semester. The faculty
union president is not involved in any of these processes formally.
However, he does give input when needed. I have used him to help
support two policies that I submitted for consideration in the past. The
final piece that will need to be accounted for is the Vice President of
Academic Affairs Office. Her office is in charge of the forms that need
to be filled out before any of these committees can research a
proposed change.

The level of involvement with each of these areas is critical. I will need
the VP of Academic Affairs to change her forms to include Student
Services as a box to check off when researching individual matters, as
a routine. The President of the college will need to make sure that she
validates that Student Services has been consulted before rubber-

stamping a final approval. I will need to talk to the faculty union

president early on to make sure he understands that this cultural
change is needed to help students and implementation of their policies
succeed and it is not intended to slow down the process or impede
progress. The three committees will take more time than any other
key stakeholder. These three committees are faculty dominated. The
key for me will be to meet with highly respected faculties that sit on
these committees before approaching the committee chairs. This will
show support to the chair(s) so that they may be more willing to listen.
The major advantage that I have in moving this cultural change is that
I have very good relationships with all three of the chairs and they are
critical in getting this agenda moving.

The transformational change that I am proposing will not interfere with

any organizational support functions. It will support them. This
proposal also supports the colleges mission and values. So, it will not
interfere with any other institutional initiatives. The key function of the
mission statement is student success and support of student success.
This change directly lines up with these very important MCC
foundational beliefs.

The communication plan for this project will be transparent from the
beginning. The communication will be heavy in the first semester and

if all goes well will be more of a reminder as the academic year goes
along. The key is to communicate privately with key stakeholders in
the beginning. The next big step is to hold sessions during the fall
semester welcome back week. This is a mandatory week of training
and information for all faculty before the fall semester starts. During
this time, I will lay out the change proposal of getting more input from
Student Services during decision making processes. I have to be clear
that Student Services will not be able to stop any action; just give
input. After the sessions are held during the welcome back week. I will
send an email to all faculty and staff introducing or reintroducing them
to this concept. I will send an email to each of the committee chairs a
week before their agendas are finalized reminding them of the new
requirement to get input on implementation from Student Services. I
will monitor all feedback from faculty and staff to ensure that any key
issues are addressed. I will also meet monthly with each of the
committee chairs to review any issues, comments or concerns that
they may have moving forward.

The evaluation of this project should be obvious as we move along. I

will know if I am making progress by being included, rejected or semiincluded. If Student Services is invited to the table to discuss all
matters related to policy development and implementation then the
project will be moving along successfully. The monthly meetings with

the chairs will be inclusive and I will continually show my gratitude for
their inclusion. If there is an effort for inclusion but not a complete
opportunity for input, I will discuss this at my monthly meetings with
the stakeholders. We will address the issue and determine if there are
any problems that can be sorted out or if there is just a lack of
communication. If this plan is rejected by the committees and Student
Services is excluded entirely, I will have to find more stakeholder
support, provide more data and clearly communicate how this fits into
the colleges mission and vision. Success in this project will be
determined by how much input Student Services has on the
implementation of new policies that directly effect the enrollment
process and student success.

Transformational Leadership
The transformational change that I am attempting at the college is one
that changes the culture of past practice when considering policymaking. The leadership role that I have taken has put me into a
position where I need to display all possible transformational
leadership traits that I can. According to the experts at the
Management Study Guide (2015), I have to display the following four
traits to be successful.

Inspirational Motivation: The foundation of transformational leadership

is the promotion of consistent vision, mission, and a set of values to

the members. Their vision is so compelling that they know what they want from
every interaction. Transformational leaders guide followers by providing them with
a sense of meaning and challenge. They work enthusiastically and optimistically to
foster the spirit of teamwork and commitment.

Intellectual Stimulation: Such leaders encourage their followers to be

innovative and creative. They encourage new ideas from their followers and
never criticize them publicly for the mistakes committed by them. The leaders
focus on the what in problems and do not focus on the blaming part of it.
They have no hesitation in discarding an old practice set by them if it is found
ineffective.

Idealized Influence: They believe in the philosophy that a leader can influence
followers only when he practices what he preaches. The leaders act as role
models that followers seek to emulate. Such leaders always win the trust and
respect of their followers through their action. They typically place their followers
needs over their own, sacrifice their personal gains for them, ad demonstrate high
standards of ethical conduct. The use of power by such leaders is aimed at
influencing them to strive for the common goals of the organization.

Individualized Consideration: Leaders act as mentors to their followers and

reward them for creativity and innovation. The followers are treated differently
according to their talents and knowledge. They are empowered to make decisions

and are always provided with the needed support to implement their decisions.

Using these skills and cultivating the relationships that I have at the college, this tran

should move along smoothly. Mott Community College is know to be movers and sha

in the industry. Resistance to change is something that has to be dealt with. However
there is a good track record with faculty, staff and administrators following the lead
when student success initiatives are the core of the change.

The strengths in my leadership style are great, transparent communication with a

track record of successful initiatives. The motivation for this change is student succes

is a number one priority at the institution and across the nation for community college
The gap in my approach may be my confidence in the institution and its leaders to

follow my lead in this cultural change. I have given the institution one academic year
to buy-in and complete this transformational process change. In IDSL 825 I did not

display a lot of confidence in the institution when it came to change. As a leader, I h

grown from this vantage point. I believe that I was the one with a weakness and not
my institution. Using strengths as a leader is a great start. However, having faith in
other institutional leaders is the right philosophy to have.