Julie Wechsler

Editor’s note: From 2000 through 2004, the League for Innovation’s Learning College Project worked to assist community colleges in the United States and Canada to become more learning centered by creating a network of 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges strongly committed to the learning college concept, whose efforts would serve as a basis for model programs and best practices. Julie Wechsler interviewed three long-standing Vanguard Learning College presidents to learn more about the president’s role in leading an institution’s journey toward becoming more learning centered, and she reports her findings in this month’s issue of Leadership Abstracts.

Participation in the Learning College Project required the implementation of widespread changes in institutional processes and structures, in the roles and responsibilities of faculty and staff, and in the use of resources. Transformation of such magnitude has not been the norm in community colleges, where change is often incremental or localized in individual departments or divisions. Organizational cultures commonly found in higher education institutions tend to value tradition and prefer the status quo over widespread change. It is evident that transformational change, such as that required by the project, demanded a balance of tradition and innovation and a keen respect for existing organizational cultures. Recent research suggests that in order to be effective, presidents leading these initiatives supplemented traditional change processes with innovative approaches to change and to leadership.

To understand the approaches found to be most effective in advancing the learning college principles, three long-standing Vanguard Learning College presidents were interviewed. At the time of the interviews, these three presidents led institutions that collectively employed more than 4,200 full-time and part-time faculty and served more than 150,000 students. While the presidents described a number of differences in their institutions and in some of their experiences, they also described a number of common experiences and provided common insights and advice. An understanding of their experiences, the challenges they encountered, and the approaches they found to be most effective in responding to these challenges is essential to an understanding of the process required to advance the learning college principles.

Challenges Encountered. Presidents identified six factors that contributed to the complexity of the change process and that influenced their approach to the leadership of the process.

• It was reported that the term “learning college project” created a challenge during the early phases of the process. Some faculty and staff expressed resistance because they felt the term implied that they had not been focused on learning in the past. Others asked questions such as, “What is a learning college anyway? What do you think we’ve been doing for the last 30 years?” Some believed the word “project” suggested the latest passing fad or “flavor of the month” and were described as ignoring the whole thing hoping it would go away. Others simply did not recognize the amount of change required by the Learning College Project. 

• Presidents described some faculty and staff who associated the project with increasing demands for accountability from external stakeholders. Demands from accrediting agencies, legislators, and the general public, along with increased competition in the marketplace, represented an unwelcome threat to institutions historically insulated from market, political, social, and economic forces. Presidents reported that some faculty and staff simply believed “they didn’t need other people to tell them how to do things.”

• It was reported that the personal commitment of some individuals to long-standing, traditional roles, responsibilities, and contributions limited their willingness to respond to emerging concerns and new philosophical positions about learning. In institutions with a social mission such as teaching, personal image is often tied to professional roles and responsibilities. A change in one requires a change in the other, thereby decreasing the likelihood of change, increasing the complexity of the change, and increasing the time required to accomplish changes that do occur.

• Presidents highlighted certain facets of organizational culture, common in community colleges and other higher education institutions that contributed to challenges throughout the change process. One president described his college as an “institution of equals” with employees thinking of themselves as owners. Others described issues related to power and authority and attempts to block decisions through traditional channels such as collegial governance, tenure, acquired rights, and established traditions.

• The existence of differing value systems between faculty and staff was also identified as a factor contributing to the complexity of the change. Presidents suggested that faculty tended to be most concerned about students while administrators were often focused on issues related to enrollment and efficiency. Because values define and shape the behavior of organizational members, the presence of multiple value systems made it more difficult to create a single, shared culture focused on student learning.

• Presidents indicated that the long-term employment and tenured status of many employees also influenced the change process. Presidents described the rights, responsibilities, and roles of people who had devoted large parts of their professional lives to a single institution and suggested that staff and faculty needed the time and the opportunity to provide input and absorb the significance of the changes represented by the project.

Presidents agreed that these six factors contributed to the need for extensive discussion and a thorough examination of habits, structures, and norms. They also agreed that it was possible to honor traditional institutional cultures while effectively advancing the learning college principles, and they offered the following advice.

Advice From the Field

1. Integrate the learning college principles into the strategic plan. It is critical that the advancement of the learning college principles not be seen as a special project. The principles must begin to define the very fabric of the institution and should be integrated into the strategic plans and priorities of the college. Further, faculty and staff throughout the campus must understand their individual roles, responsibilities, and contributions within the context of a learning college.
   
2. Use vision, mission, and values statements to shape the culture. A new, shared culture with learning at the center must be created. New or revised organizational statements describing aspirations and hopes for the institution, a sense of direction, and guidelines for the daily behavior of employees should be identified collaboratively by teams of faculty and staff from all areas of the college. The learning-centered vision, mission, and values must be reiterated consistently at campuswide meetings and through project plans, white papers, articles, and college websites.
   
3. Recruit and hire learning-centered faculty and staff. The characteristics, knowledge, and core skills needed in a learning-centered institution must be identified, described, and used in the recruiting and selection processes. Selection committee members should be trained in techniques designed to identify candidates focused on student learning. Candidates should be required to provide written statements about learning-centered approaches and their goals as learning facilitators.
   
4. Use employee orientation sessions to acclimate people to the college and its culture. It is important that presidents attend new employee orientation sessions to emphasize both personal and institutional commitment to the learning college principles and to introduce new employees to the learning college concepts. Expectations of all employees working in a learning-centered institution should be clarified.
   
5. Place a priority on professional development. The choice must be made to use college resources to support both new and continuing faculty and staff in becoming increasingly learning-centered. Programs should be developed for all employees including faculty, staff, and senior administrators. Groups of people, rather than just one or two, should attend conferences together so they can later share in the implementation of new ideas. Both internal and external professional development opportunities should be considered and possibilities for collaborative learning with other learning-centered colleges should be explored.
   
6. Engage others and inspire them with ideas. Leaders must have and talk about a compelling vision that will inspire and engage faculty and staff. Without this vision, a president functions like a technician and not a leader. Ideas, symbols, and stories work to engage, enable, develop, and motivate others to change.
   
7. Build a group of allies. Early adopters and champions should be identified early. People who appreciate the learning-centered approach and are willing to act as disciples should be included, encouraged, and rewarded at every stage of the change process. It is also important that the skeptics are encouraged for there can be no success without involvement, empowerment, and the approval of stakeholders.
   
8. Use data to drive the need for change. Undeniable data about current and desired levels of student success should be used to provide the momentum necessary to start and maintain the change process. The facts work to substantiate the need for change and create the inspiration required to participate in the process.
   
9. Use new group processes and collaborative technologies. Committees should be replaced with task forces that are given specific tasks to accomplish and time frames within which to accomplish them. These task forces should be disbanded when their tasks have been completed. This helps to accelerate decision making and create the energy and sense of excitement needed to sustain the change process.
   
10. Demonstrate that you are an educator first and an administrator second. While there is no simple formula describing the type of leadership required to advance the learning college principles, it is imperative that the president consistently demonstrate, in word and deed, a commitment to the heart and soul of the institution – student learning. The president must be an educator first and an administrator second.

The learning college principles are no longer new and these presidents have many years of experience balancing tradition with innovation while shifting the focus from teaching to learning. They have developed and used collaborative, shared decision-making processes designed to include and value the perspectives of all organizational stakeholders. They have inspired and engaged faculty and staff with the use of data and compelling visions. They have demonstrated their commitment to student learning and to continuous improvement through action and the allocation of resources. It is hoped that an understanding of these strategies may provide a useful roadmap for other presidents interested in leading their colleges in the advancement of these principles.

Julie Wechsler is the Director of the Learning Center at South Mountain Community College, Maricopa Community College District, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Cynthia Wilson, Editor