Dennis Day
Dennis is a Senior Consultant with Collegiate Project Services.
Latest posts by Dennis Day (see all)
- Holistic Student Success:A Lesson on Change from “The Office” - June 15, 2015
- Why Every Institution Needs a Success Funnel - March 5, 2015
Television has long mimicked real life; taking license from actual behavior and dramatizing or making fun of real people’s reactions to everyday situations. During an episode of the docu-comedy “The Office,” Michael Scott, Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, thinks he has heard that the branch operation will be closed in Scranton and moved to another location. Of course in his own inept way to keep it quiet, Michael lives with the idea for about 30 minutes and then in front of most of the staff blurts out “we are shutting down and we all will lose our jobs!”
This unleashed a chain of reactions by the individual staff ranging from panic to “I knew this was going to happen” to “just when I got my business cards printed this happens.”
It’s an interesting example of how we as individuals deal with change and how we internalize the consequences of the effects on “ME.”
Student Success is a change management challenge for every institution
As pressures are mounting from multiple sources for increased “student success” measures, we need to be calling on all employees to play a role in meeting these objectives. This will be a change for the “way things are done” for many on campus. Even though colleges and universities are bastions of higher learning, they are still populated by individuals suffering from the same “me” complex that was seen in “The Office” episode. It may not be as pronounced as in the satirical docu-comedy, but it is just as real and is felt just as strongly. Student Success initiatives reach across many differing populations of students, faculty, staff and community. It is this diversity that can create the largest challenge in higher education. Critical thinking and new ideas are by-products of a higher education environment, but because of the many people involved, implementation of those ideas can meet resistance, doubt, or a need to examine all angles. This can slow any progress toward achieving student success goals.
As we look at how change is accepted in higher education, we learn that everyone deals with change differently. Sometimes the environment is conducive for a change initiative, but the personnel are not in place to make it a success. Or the personnel may be capable, but there is no clear leader to advocate and guide the process. Or the idea is too big to implement right away and needs a multi-step plan to allow it to grow on everyone.
So how can institutions respond?
To create a student success-focused environment, clearly strategy and planning are needed, but many institutions need help developing a plan. Help may be needed to understand their own environment and the capabilities of the personnel. They may need to analyze their data to develop target goals for success. Singularly, each element is important but rarely can they stand alone. A complex environment like a college or university requires looking at student success holistically– across the entire institution- to be successful.
Institutions with comprehensive and holistic student success plans have…
…an understanding of where they stand relative to their market and community.
…many representative voices to provide input into the process and product.
…communicated to all affected as to what is happening, what is expected and how to get there.
…a collaborative, comprehensive, strategic plan that takes into consideration the institutional culture, has included student input and allowed the campus leadership to use their strengths.
Achieving this is not easy and is rarely taught in higher education. In order to be successful at implementing change initiatives, institutions must take advantage of talents, experience and expertise of those with the proper knowledge and past success. By doing this, you remove the “ME” attitude and can help your institution create an environment where all are expected to play a role in student success.
After all we don’t want to give headquarters any reason to close the Scranton office and have everyone freak out like in “The Office.” We want to be renewed for years to come and not moved to Stamford.
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Good stuff here. I love the connection to “The Office” and the Scranton Office closure episode. And I appreciate continued access to the wisdom and insight of Mr. Dennis Day.