Change in community colleges through strategic alliances: a case study

Community College Review, Spring, 2003 by Pamela L. Eddy

1) Establishing a sense of urgency

2) Creating the guiding committee

3) Developing a vision and strategy

4) Communicating the change vision

5) Empowering broad-based action

6) Generating short-term wins

7) Consolidating gains and producing more change

8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture

Kotter contends that while it is possible to undertake more than one step at a time, it is necessary to follow the model sequentially. He argues that skipping steps or making a critical mistake within a step can have a crippling effect on the success of the change initiative. Since the institutions in the case study were involved in a planned change initiative, the application of Kotter's model provides an opportunity to apply this change theory to practice and to analyze the results.

Case Study Methodology

A case study design was chosen for this study to allow for an in-depth understanding of the situation, in this case the formation of the consortium and its attempt to elicit planned change (Merriam, 1998). The design of the study included purposeful sampling using a multiple-case-study approach. The fundamental question guiding this study was: How can Kotter's (1996) change model help explain the successes and failures of the formation of the consortium?

The case research employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Institutional reports from the involved colleges supplied one source of quantitative data. Data also came from the central alliance office and state reports. Qualitative data was collected from individual interviews, artifacts supplied by the institutions, and the alliance Web site.

A purposive sample of administrators from the case institutions sought insider perceptions of the alliance and speculation on future changes. Data were collected in 1999 from upper administrators from the five campuses under investigation. The researcher was familiar with the change initiatives underway at the institutions due to her previous employment at one of the colleges. The president of the college where the researcher was earlier employed provided initial contact names at the five institutions. Presidents, vice presidents, and deans were included in the original request. Subsequently, an interview was sought with the executive assistant of the strategic alliance. This person assisted the college presidents in alliance administrative matters. The creation of the position of executive assistant occurred after the original formation of the strategic effort.

Interviews solicited participant views on the goals of the alliance, the processes implemented to achieve the identified goals, barriers to change, level of inclusion of the campus community in the change initiatives, campus reactions to the alliance, identification of campus change agents, assessment of the attainment of original goals, and future steps and challenges remaining. Additionally, those interviewed were asked for a metaphor to describe the change process.

Interviews occurred with a total of 11 administrators. The interviews were tape recorded, with the exception of one participant who declined consent for taping. The tape-recorded interviews were summarized and analyzed for themes. Coding of emergent themes corresponded with categories generated primarily from the interview protocol (Merriam, 1998). Categories included historical markers and accomplishments of the alliance, communication systems, positive and negative examples of collaboration, barriers to change and campus resistance, systems integration of alliance change initiatives, role of the central state agency, and future expectations.