sandra dowie, ma, mba office of the provost, u of alberta institutional strategies for...

Sandra Dowie, MA, MBAOffice of the Provost, U of Alberta

Institutional Strategies for Cost-Effectiveness, Responsiveness & Innovation

CANHEIT | Power Through Collaboration | May 27-30, 2007 | **Presentation Title**

This presentation is a result of a recent planning process…

Conducted at the U of Alberta over the past two years.

Involving broadly-based representation.

Concerning how services and support will be provided to instructors.

Related to teaching, learning, and the use of educational technologies.


This session describes the planning process we used to…

Develop strategies to foster innovation

Increase alignment of services & support staff

Reduce redundancy

Improve the quality of support


Subcommittee on Teaching, Learning & Technology Innovation & Leadership

Established by the UofA Committee on the Learning Environment (CLE).

Thirteen members representing central service units & faculties.

Co-chaired by Paul Sorenson, Vice-Provost (IT) & Olive Yonge, Vice-Provost (Academic Programs).

Met 15 times between Nov. 2005 & May, 2006.


Subcommittee on Teaching, Learning & Technology Innovation & Leadership

A number of documents were provided to inform members and foster new ways of thinking.

Written summaries framed issues & recommendations – many drafts!

Developed a report that described an integrated-distributed system of services & support.


The approaches we used were derived from the following fields…

Educational administration

Organizational development

Change management

In addition to years of experience working in higher education!


Organizational design involves:

The allocation of responsibility to units.

Supervisory and lateral relationships.

Accountabilities for units.

Key reporting and coordination processes.


What is the best way to organize support and services for teaching, learning, & the use of technology?


What is the best way to organize a restaurant?


The primary influence on the structure of units within an organization is its overall strategy.

There is no one best design!


The organizational plan for support & services is often derived from…

Tinkering with existing units -- incremental change that may not result in change at all

Seeking solutions elsewhere – the needle-in-the-haystack approach

The leadership of a few individuals -- disruptive change

The collaborative, PATIENT planning -- transformational change


“Most managers find organization design decisions difficult. They recognize that there are no right answers, & that much depends on complicated trade-offs between different possible groupings, processes, & relationships.”

Goold & Campbell (2002), p. 16


Overview of the organizational design theory applied to our process…


Review organizational design principles related to:

Specialization

Coordination

Knowledge & Competence

Control & Commitment

Difficult links


Specialization principle – the need for autonomy

Staff build in-depth knowledge & skills associated with unit’s primary responsibilities.

Unit boundaries should foster abilities, products, & services that are most closely aligned with organizational priorities.

Every structure is a compromise.

No unit can maximize all dimensions of a skill.


The Coordination Principle:

The need to coordinate activities counterbalances the need for autonomy.

Those tasks & initiatives that most need to be coordinated should fall within the boundaries of a unit.

Unit boundaries can be used to sustain valuable cultures.


Knowledge & competence principle:

Responsibilities should be allocated to person or team most able to achieve competent performance at a reasonable cost.


Control & Commitment Principle:

Units should be created in a way that fosters effective, low-cost management control & strong staff commitment to organizational goals.


Units need to link with each other to:

Share resources

Coordinate joint activities

Difficult links exist when:

Information does not flow freely among units.

Units tend to work independently from each other rather than undertake joint projects etc.


Difficult links exist when…

Those involved do not perceive the benefits of a coordinated effort.

There are hard to reconcile conflicts of interest.

There is a culture of secrecy or mutual distrust.

Managers do not have the necessary abilities & attitudes.

Covert or overt incentives for acting independently.


To establish strong links among units…

Communicate the vision for collective activities.

Specify intended relationships & processes.

Establish frameworks for shared activities.

Build mechanisms for horizontally linking units (e.g. task forces, integrators, interdepartmental teams).

Combine units if difficult links persist.


Realize that the goal of a bureaucracy is to maximize its budget.


Organizational design dilemmas…

Aggregate one or more units

Maintain disaggregated units

Specialization Increases scope, but limits depth of expertise within a unit.

Tends to develop deeper expertise for a narrower scope of activities.

Coordination Activities are most readily coordinated within a unit.

Coordinating activities among several units is more difficult.





Culture Creates a shared culture that may override.

Each unit can develop a unique culture that is attuned to specific client needs.

Innovation & change

Larger, aggregated units tend to be less flexible & adaptable.

Networks of specialized units are often more adaptable & innovative due to their specialized expertise.





Motivation Staff more readily develop a stronger sense of teamwork with those working within their unit.

Commitment is strengthened by self-management. Fosters an entrepreneurial culture.


Tradeoffs between central vs. decentralized support for course redesign at the UofA:

Central service unit

Faculty-based staff

Connection with clients

Need to develop relationships

Easier to establish closer working relationships with faculty

Culture Understanding of institutional goals & strategies

Understanding of clients’ needs & context

Responsive-ness

Can be problematic – needs to be closely managed

Clients appreciate availability of local staff – capacity can be limited here too!


Tradeoffs between central vs. decentralized support for course redesign at the UofA:

Central service unit Faculty-based staff

Innovation May have greater depth of expertise of a field.

Often have broader range of expertise.

R&D activities can be more aligned with U priorities.

Can be highly experimental.

Benefit from frontline experience.

May have limited time & resources for R&D.

Need to network to develop skills.


Integrated-Distributed System of Support & Services

Staff in central teaching & technology will concentrate on providing standardized services.

Central units might offer professional development services to faculty-based staff.

Faculty-based instructional design & technical staff will concentrate on providing customized support to instructors.

Faculty-based staff are valued as an integral part of the support system.


Integrated-Distributed System of Support & Services

Deans are asked to place a priority on funding support staff positions.

The Teaching, Learning, & Technology (TLAT) Council will provide policy, planning, & implementation recommendations to the Provost.

Faculty-based TLAT committees will guide local activities & link to the TLAT Council.

A Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL) will promote innovation & collaboration.


The TLAT Council…

Is composed of academic administrators designated by their Deans.

Develops recommendations for the Provost re: teaching learning and the use of technology.

Enhances the flow of communications among faculties & with central administration.

Transmits approved policies to their faculties.

Recommends priorities & initiatives for Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL) – this is a temporary name!


Some of the items on the TLAT Council agenda for 2007-2008:

Policy for intellectual property

Job description for Director of CTL

Vision, goals, & operational strategies for CTL.

Improving professional development services for educators.

Enhancing learning outcomes in large enrolment courses.


The Centre for Teaching & Learning will…

Facilitate collaboration among service units & faculty-based staff.

Incubate innovative approaches for improving teaching & learning.

Be situated in Telus Centre – formerly a conference facility

Remain relatively small.


How we are resolving difficult links…

The TLAT Council provides a ground for debate, information sharing, and forward thinking.

The Centre for Teaching & Learning will focus on facilitation rather than being service provider.

The critical role of faculty-based staff is both respected and promoted.

A new generation of managers is more open to the integrated-distributed system.

Ongoing discussion about the system is essential.


Key lessons for me…

The value of patience.

Writing with feedback & revisions is a way to build consensus with committees.

We need to be flexible in how we employ planning practices from the private sector.

The value of patience.


Resources

This presentation will be available at:

http://www.vpit.ualberta.ca/ The Report to the Committee on the Learning Environment is available at: http://www.vpit.ualberta.ca/elearning/

Goold, M. & Campbell, A. (2002). Designing effective organizations: How to create structured networks. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Daft, R.L. (2004). Organizational Theory & Design. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

sandra dowie, ma, mba office of the provost, u of alberta institutional strategies for...

Documents

presentation title

canheit power

quality of support slide

transformational change

support services

disruptive change

incremental change

structure of units