Learning Resources

Abstract: Semester conversion. New academic year calendar. New capital plan. New facilities delivery. Just one of these events can present a campus with challenges. But when they all occur basically at the same time, the potential for disaster looms large. When it faced these changes within a two-year period, 1999–2001, LaGrange College needed “triage.” This article addresses how the college organized, planned, and implemented these changes. It also addresses the errors that occurred and the ways the errors were corrected.

Abstract: Spain has experienced a period of profound change affecting its political, social, and economic systems in the last two decades. These changes, in turn, have affected the higher education system considerably. Because they have taken place over a short period of time, these changes have created a dynamic situation. Although the consequences of most of these changes have been extremely positive, some unintended negative effects have also occurred. Both positive and negative consequences of the fast change are discussed in this article.

Abstract: The authors describe why typical change efforts fail and define both the need and the process for creating change. They also emphasize the critical nature of learning as it relates to change and introduce the universal change principle—that learning precedes change. The role of culture in the change process is explored. The authors then walk the reader through a step-by-step change creation process, which is designed to support successful change efforts.

Abstract: Typically, it is asserted that the key to getting people to accept change is to "get the process right." However, the author maintains that too much time is spent on process, to the near-exclusion of examining the reasons why people act as they do. Surveys views of human nature from Freud to Marx to Madison in an attempt to summarize just a few of the most popular frameworks for understanding human behavior. Keeping such frameworks in mind when enacting strategic change may make the difference between success and failure.

Abstract: As we enter the twenty-first century, we face the uncertainty of the changes that mark our transformation from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. How we meet the challenges of that transformation will determine our ability to succeed in the new age. This book, which became a national best seller, provides readers in the field of higher education with insights into how they can meet the challenges. The following chapters are included: "Paradigm Lost, Paradigm Found," "What Is Transformation?" "Realigning with the Information Age Environment," "Redesigning to Meet the Needs of Information Age Learners," "Redefining Roles, Responsibilities, and Productivity," "Reengineering Organizational Processes," and "Introducing a Transformative Model to Your Campus."