Change Agents & 'Organizational Development'

By Al Rickard, in Business Officer, this article also highlights some potentially useful NACUBO resources:

High marks for academic programs can’t offset criticism about inefficient operations. A deliberate framework for organizational development can raise your institution’s overall score. . . .

Mitchell advocates “working with the largest system possible to implement change.” In this case, engaging champions and detractors and facilitating the sustained involvement of campus leaders were critical elements in redefining and addressing the information technology challenges. “If we tried to do this department by department it would have taken decades to accomplish what’s now in place,” she says.

At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Office of Quality Improvement provides strategic planning and process improvement services, while the Office of Human Resource Development oversees professional development and leadership training. The two offices work in close collaboration.

Often a project conducted for one department will find applications in other parts of the university. For example, Cotter tells the story of a history department dean who was convinced that his department was so different from others that the administrative improvements developed there would not work anywhere else. However, her office found applications for the structure in 20 other departments.