Discussion Response : Organizational Networks and Partnerships to Support Educational Success

Respond to the discussion below using two or more of the following approaches:

Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information or research.

Share an insight from having read your colleagues' postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

Validate an idea with your own experience and additional resources.

Reminders:

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2. Put citations

3. At least 3 references. Articles must 2012 up to present.

Discussion : Organizational Networks and Partnerships to Support Educational Success

Mission

The organization for this discussion is a for-profit career college. The mission statement involves preparing learners for a professional/technical career. This is a degree granting institution with diploma, associate and bachelor degrees. They offer a variety of programs in business, technology, criminal, paralegal and healthcare. There are two campuses 30 miles from one another but in two different states.

Partnerships

The two campuses are run by the same administrative team, and there is a partnership that exist between the campuses. Many program directors and deans oversee programs at both campuses. The nursing department is a little different in that aspect. The main campus has a larger student population allowing for more faculty and leaders. The administrative team is also housed at the main campus. The sister campus is much smaller with a smaller faculty and student population. There is one leader at the sister campus who oversees the entire nursing program. The leader must constantly answer to the administrative team.

Both nursing departments are supposed to have a shared partnership when it comes to teaching materials, resources etc. This is not always the case. The main campus is constantly making curriculum changes that we do not always agree with but are expected to follow. We have very little say in the decision-making process. This can hinder one's role as a nurse educator. There are many differences in the two campuses including student population, organizational culture and climate. What is best for one campus may not always work for the other.

Organizational Culture/Climate

Organizational culture is the values and behaviors adopted by the employees of an organization (Bellott, 2011). The climate is the atmosphere that is created based on the culture (Bellott, 2011). The culture and climate differs between campuses. The main campus has more resources, better equipment, and less workload. There is this overall sense of superiority from those at the main campus. The sister campus is always looked at as the one that has problems. The faculty at the main campus does not want to share or collaborate with those at the sister campus. You can feel the difference in climate when you visit the main campus. This affects the faculty at the sister campus.

A partnership requires common interests, goals, communication and respect (Breslin et. al., 2011). The partnership that exists between the two campuses lacks teamwork, communication, and respect. When changes are made there is very little discussion between the campuses and most decisions are made by the main campus. For changes to be successful they must take place at the group level with everyone participating and collaborating in the process (Schriner et. al., 2010). Better collaboration and teamwork is needed between campuses to improve the overall partnership that exists among faculty.

References:

Bellot, J. (2011). Defining and assessing organizational culture. Nursing Forum, 46(1), 29-37.

doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6198.2010.00207.x

Breslin, E., Stefl, M., Yarbrough, S., Frazor, D., Bullard, K., Light, K.,... Lowe, A. (2011).

Creating and sustaining academic-practice partnerships: Lessons learned.Journal of

Professional Nursing, 27(6), e33-e40. doi:

http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2011.08.008

Schriner, C., Deckelman, S., Kubat, M., Lenkay, J., Nims, L., & Sullivan, D. (2010).

Collaboration of nursing faculty and college administration in creating organizational

change. Nursing Education Perspectives, 31(6), 381-386. doi:

http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1043/1536-5026-31.6.381