a compass, not a hindrance

A COMPASS, NOT A HINDRANCE: THE DOMINICAN CHARISM AND INSTITUTIONAL

CHANGE

Scott FlanaganEdgewood College

Why are you here?

Outline

• Purpose• Methods• Background• Key findings• Lessons for leaders• Questions• Discussion about applicability in the

Dominican context

Purpose of the study

1. What is the role of values in general education revision at CCUs?

A. What values are central to general education revision at CCUs?

1. What are the sources of those values?2. What role do sponsoring organizations play in

curricular change processes?

B. What points of conflict and synergy exist between academic and Catholic cultures in such a change endeavor?

Purpose of the study

2. How do leaders achieve general education revision in the context of these values?A. How do differences in values within a campus

shape change processes and the roles of leaders at different CCUs?

B. By what process do leaders create a constellation of values that reflect academic and Catholic values?

C. Through what process do leaders lead general education curricular revision at CCUs?

Methods

• Three site case study– Different sponsoring organizations– Similar selectivity, size of undergraduate population

• Document review, campus tours, interviews (individual and group)

• Reviewed documents to generate themes• Themes informed findings• Findings led to recommendations

Background

Why do institutions need to change?

“Institutional culture shapes thereason change emerges, the way the process

occurs, and the change outcomes.”

Adrianna J. Kezar, Understanding and Facilitating Organizational Change in the 21st Century:

Recent Research and Conceptualizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001), p. 115

What is culture?

“A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has 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.”

Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992), p. 12.

Elements of culture (Schein)

Artifacts

Values

Assumptions

4 Models of Academic Culture

• Collegial: Emphasis on consensus , shared power, and equality

• Bureaucratic: Emphasis on structure, setting and conforming to systems and processes

• Political: Emphasis on power (getting and using) as a way to get things done

• Anarchical: Appears chaotic but instead has an order that is implicit and shared

Robert Birnbaum, How Academic Leadership Works: Understanding Success and Failure in the College Presidency (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992)

Taxonomy of Catholic colleges & universities

• Basis:– Proportion of students who are Catholic– Proportion of faculty & administrators who are

Catholic– Extent to which there are courses in Catholic

theology– Presence/lack of Catholic culture in co-curriculum

Melanie M. Morey and John J. Piderit, Catholic Higher Education: A Culture in Crisis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Taxonomy of Catholic colleges & universities

• Proposed Categories– Immersion– Persuasion– Diaspora– Cohort

Melanie M. Morey and John J. Piderit, Catholic Higher Education: A Culture in Crisis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006)

What are values?

“Socially oriented, unique constructs that describe characteristics of organizations, guide action and behavior, and serve to differentiate organizations.”

Sandra L. Williams, "Strategic Planning and Organizational Values: Links to Alignment," Human Resource Development International 5, no. 2 (2002), p. 220.

What are some sources of values in Catholic higher education?

What are the possible relationships between different value sources?

What do you think the predominant relationship was between different value sets in this study?Where would you expect the greatest level of

conflict?

Why study general education?

• All undergraduates experience it• Accounts for 25-50% of credits• Cultural intersection– A visible and significant expression of institutional

values– Often changed in response to external factors

• A difficult change process for leaders because of the interplay of so many variables

The Cases

AssisiBishopIgnatius

Interesting findings

Taxonomy—good idea, not practical to apply

What are the possible relationships between different value sources?

What do you think the predominant relationship was between different value sets in this study?Where would you expect the greatest level of

conflict?

What role did sponsors’ values play?

Ensure fidelity to mission

• Essential to carrying on the charism as fewer vowed religious are able to participate

• Essential to upholding responsibility as a Catholic institution

“Figure out your value system. Decide what you stand for.”

Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies (New

York: Harper & Row, 1982).

Facilitate change

• Point of departure• Point of reference• External change often serves as a catalyst, but

must be driven by shared values in order to be sustained

• Zemsky and Massy: “market smart and mission centered”– Not either/or, but both/and

• “It can be distinctive for (Assisi University) to have a general education package of courses and opportunities for students…in our Franciscan-Catholic tradition.”

Differentiate in the crowded marketplace

What did leaders do? What can we learn?

What can leaders do?

• Cultivate shared values in advance of significant change– Hiring– Orientation– Presence– Ongoing exposure

What can leaders do?

• Use the values of the sponsoring institution explicitly to provide a shared sense of purpose– Begin with core values as a point of departure– Conduct exercises during change which refer back

to those values– Map resulting proposals back to those values– Include values in outcomes (of curriculum, for

example)

What can leaders do?

• Structure an inclusive process– “The vice president for academics does not own

the curriculum, the faculty owns the curriculum.”– “(Faculty) were reluctant…to pass something that

would have such a profound effect, not feeling like they had invested in it.”

– “Faculty bought in to having an initial voice and being heard…It was a brilliant way to (get) faculty to buy-in to a process, to look for change.”

What can leaders do?

• Structure an inclusive process– “Faculty bought in to having an initial voice and

being heard…It was a brilliant way to (get) faculty to buy-in to a process, to look for change.”

– “The process seemed very Jesuit to me…It was designed to be deliberative.”

What can leaders do?

• Learn from institutional history– Reflect on previous successes and failures– Use existing processes, structure, etc. as artifacts

and therefore sources to learn about culture and values

What’s the point?

• External forces make change necessary, but sustainable and effective change emerges from core values and culture.

• There is more consistency than conflict among Catholic and academic values.

• Core values both reflect and shape action.

What’s the point?

• Core values can be a necessary point of differentiation—mission centered IS market smart

• Shared values can serve as a compass—a point of departure and a point of reference—during times of change

What’s the point?

• Leaders can most effectively lead change that meets the emerging changes of the external environment in a manner consistent with core values by:– Cultivating shared values– Using sponsors’ values explicitly– Structuring a process that models community– Learning from institutional history (reflection)

Questions

Discussion

• During what other types of changes or processes might these lessons be applicable?

• What are the most applicable values from the Dominican tradition?

• How might they be utilized to inform our decision-making processes?

• How might they be relevant in the content of our essential decisions?