Any of these monographs can be obtained for a nominal fee of $5.00 (first
publication) and $1.00 (each additional publication) from the Higher Education
Research Institute (HERI). If interested, please call or e-mail Mary Rabb at
(310) 825-8331; rabb@gseis.ucla.edu.
The Theory and
Practice of Institutional Transformation in Higher Education
This essay proposes a preliminary theory of institutional transformation which
can serve both as a theoretical framework for the scholarly study of
transformation and as a conceptual guide for change leaders to use throughout
the entire process of any transformation effort. The theory addresses the
"why?," the "what?," the "how?," and the
"what happens?" of transformation. Eight basic principals that apply
to most, if not all transformation are proposed together with discussions of
catalysts and precipitating factors, issues to consider in planning and
initiating transformation efforts, obstacles to planned change efforts, and
tools and strategies to facilitate the transformation process.
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Institutional
Transformation: Context and Process
This report contains four essays that describe and analyze critical elements in
transformation: External Forces and Institutional Response to Change;
Organizational Culture and Institutional Transformation; Facilitating
Transformative Change Efforts Through the Use of Assessment; Sustaining Change
Efforts in Higher Education: A Look at Factors Influencing Organizational
Learning and Renewal.
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Transforming
Institutions: Case Studies
A series of quantitative analyses using longitudinal student data collected
through the Higher Education Research Institute’s (HERI) Cooperative
Institutional Research Program were used to select four diverse institutions
that had changed most notably between 1989 and 1998. Changes included positive
student educational and personal outcomes. Each selected institution was visited
by a research team that interviewed faculty, staff, administrators, and students
with a primary goal of understanding the process of institutional change. The
monograph presents a synthesis of institutional responses to internally- and
externally-based challenges, the nature of the role of change that occurred on
campus, and the resulting effects. The central roles of leadership and
assessment in facilitating and sustaining change efforts is addressed as well as
the structural and cultural elements that facilitated the institutional change.
In addition, the data from each institution is presented as a case study.
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Creating New Communities of
Learning at UCLA: An Institutional Transformation in Progress,
1993-2002
This report recounts the history and process of a transformational effort at the
College of Letters and Science at UCLA. The effort involves the restructuring of
the General Education Curriculum to create learning communities for UCLA
undergraduates in the College. In addition to reporting the history and process
of the transformation, the monograph presents the ongoing assessment efforts
designed specifically for this curricular change.
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Proceedings: Research
Symposium on Institutional Transformation
The proceedings present summaries of the deliberations of 42 participants in a
two day
Symposium held at UCLA during August 2000. There were three panel presentations:
(a) What does the research tell us about
institutional transformation?;
(b) Using the experience of college and university presidents in an
institutional transformation effort, how can knowledge from research help?; and
(c) What are the policy implications from research and practice in institutional
transformation? Major themes from the discussion and implications for research
and action are also covered. The participants included researchers, college and
university presidents, and policy makers.
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How Has Undergraduate
Education Changed in the Past Decade? A National Study of "System
Transformation."
(forthcoming, Review of Higher Education)
Evidence from two longitudinal student databases collected nearly a decade apart
suggest that undergraduate education in the United States has been
"transformed" in many ways that are consistent with national reform
efforts that emerged in the 1980s. Institutions have strengthened their capacity
to foster faculty-student interaction, student-student interaction, and student
engagement in community service. Institutions show diminished capacity, however,
to foster academic engagement and social activism among students.
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Institutional
Transformation and Student Development: Decade-long change in 117 Baccalaureate
Colleges and Universities
Institutional transformation, defined as change in an institution’s
capacity to favorably impact student development, is assessed using two
longitudinal data sets from the late 1980s and late 1990s. Differential change
in institutional impact is examined as a function of (a) institutional type and
(b) changes in student involvement. Results indicate that two types of
institutions—liberal arts colleges and universities—show the strongest
evidence of institutional transformation (both positive and negative),
particularly in the areas of faculty-student interaction, student academic
involvement, and social activism. The findings also offer evidence that student
involvement, both academic and social, offers a potentially powerful tool for
enhancing the process of institutional transformation.
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