Demands for increasingly more responsive education systems have
caused some higher education institutions to reconsider their original
missions and envision new futures. This is particularly true with land grant
institutions whose mandate it is to be the people's university. The purpose of
this study was to explore the first year of a change project at a land grant
institution to determine first attempts to prepare for and catalyze systemic
change. The literature review supported the position that change was seldom
enduring in higher education organizations, and to effect systemic change an
organization needed to embrace the concept of learning. This study sought to
make sense of organizational change through the experience of an
innovative vision-driven, participant-centered change process.
Data were analyzed using multiple sources including interviews,
fieldnotes, project documents and participant observation. Three themes
emerged from the analysis representative of participant experience: Learning
How to Change; Developing a Change Design; and Collaboration and the
Paradox of Partnership. The themes represented primary areas of learning for
participants in the first year of the project. Stories of participant learning were
expressed through key events experienced during the 12-month inquiry.
Outcomes of this study reflected the centrality of learning in the
beginning months of the change project. Change agents needed opportunities
to learn how to change before enlisting others in the process. Active learning,
reflection, and the value discovered through an expanded capacity for change
created deeper ownership in the project for many participants. These aspects
of the change process were also identified as attributes of a learning
organization. Another significant research outcome addressed partnering
efforts in the project's initial months. First attempts to build collaborative
relationships with the State's community colleges were ineffective due to low
levels of trust and highly competitive cultures. / Graduation date: 1997
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34456 |
| Date | 28 January 1997 |
| Creators | McMurray, Janice K. |
| Contributors | Carpenter, Charles |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0015 seconds