Leadership for Transformative Change: Lessons From Technology-Based Reform in Broad-Access Colleges

• In Event: 73.034 - Organizational Leadership for Social Change

Abstract

Community colleges and broad-access four-year institutions have a crucial role to play in increasing education equity in the United States. In order to successfully fulfill this role, however, institutions must engage in transformative organizational change to address the challenge of low completion rates. Using qualitative case studies of six colleges, this study explores types of leadership that are involved in implementing a technology-based reform designed to transform advising services, and that are correlated with transformative organization change. Expanding on Heifetz’s (1994) theory of adaptive change and Karp and Fletcher’s (2014) Readiness for Technology Adoption framework, we find that transformative change requires multi-tiered leadership with shared priorities and a unified commitment to the same vision of technology-based reform.

Authors

• Serena Klempin, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Melinda Mechur Karp, Columbia University

• Hoori Santikian Kalamkarian, Community College Research Center

• Jeffrey Fletcher, Teachers College, Columbia University