Evaluate theory and practice to develop, present, and gain professional feedback on a personal approach to leading transformation and change within a postsecondary institution.

You are soon to become the new president of a deeply troubled institution. You have had the chance to study the institution, its staff, students, and faculty. You have come to believe that this institution must radically change, or it will be forced to close its doors forever. Yet, the resistance to change within every level of the institution will be significant and could very well overwhelm your hopes and plans.

You want to find practical, powerful ways to bring about a successful transformation. You have decided to study the transformative practices that have been tried at other institutions; study the latest research, theory, and best practices surrounding organizational transformation and change management in postsecondary institutions, and develop your own approach to bringing about the change so needed at your institution.

You realize that what you are about to do is too critical to rely solely on your own judgment. You have been assigned peers to react to your work and provide critical feedback throughout your reflection and preparation process. These peers will be known as your respondents.

You have high expectations for the kind of transformation you want to bring about at your campus and the manner in which you will accomplish it. You have committed yourself to developing an approach that will:

· Foster a safe, democratic, and empowering educational environment that engages the institution's diverse internal and external communities in the continuous improvement of student development and learning.

· Support the design, implementation, management, and assessment of learning opportunities sensitive to student characteristics and the collegiate and community environment.

· Employ ethical, collaborative, and critically reflective management and leadership practices.

· Help the institution anticipate and prepare for change, crisis, and disruption.

You have decided to create a reflective journal and share it with your respondents. This weekly journal will capture your findings, insight, and reflections as you read and evaluate the course material. You have dedicated yourself to being open and to thoughtfully record and evaluate the reactions and recommendations of your respondents as they react to your weekly journal entries. You are committed to incorporating those ideas into your thinking as much as possible and as appropriate.

At the end of your course, you will develop a personal transformational approach to leading your institution and use your journal to prepare and record the formal speech that you intend to deliver to your institution on your first day.

Important: Your respondents have agreed on one condition. They ask that you offer the same service to others. (Throughout this course, you must provide candid and thoughtful responses to the journal entries and a written assessment of the final speeches of assigned peers. These will probably not be your respondents but rather others in your course in need of your insight and wisdom.)

In this journal, you will:

1. Describe and evaluate the numerous theories, models, and approaches you have identified in your course readings, case analyses and from the current referred journal articles you have discovered on models of change management and organizational transformation.

2. Identify and describe the weaknesses and strengths of these models, theories, and approaches and elicit, record, and incorporate the insight and reactions of your respondents to your findings and claims. Even though this is a journal and not a formal paper, you will want to make sure that your entries are clear and well organized. Be certain to use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling since you will be sharing the journal with your peers and your instructor.

3. Select the theories, practices, and models that you believe to be the most appropriate for bringing about an institutional transformation and meeting your four objectives:

A. Foster a safe, democratic, and empowering educational environment that engages the institution's diverse internal and external communities in the continuous improvement of student development and learning.

B. Support the design, implementation, management, and assessment of learning opportunities sensitive to student characteristics and the collegiate and community environment.

C. Employ ethical, collaborative, and critically reflective management and leadership practices.

D. Help the institution anticipate and prepare for change, crisis, and disruption.

4. Check your thinking by making explicit your rationale, biases, and assumptions for why you chose these particular theories, models, or practices and why they meet the four objectives. You will use APA internal citations and a reference page at the end of your journal to keep yourself grounded in the literature and reading.

5. Share your choices, rationale, and critical analyses of your biases and assumptions with your respondents and record and incorporate their feedback and insight.

6. Write your formal opening-day speech to the faculty, staff, and students in your journal. Your speech must clearly convey your plan for bringing about the transformational change you envision, why you believe this approach will be successful, and what you expect of the community and of yourself in this process.

7. For on-ground: Deliver the speech to your assigned peers and capture in your journal their reactions and recommendations. You may choose any type of technology to deliver your speech. You my present the speech in person, as a podcast, over a live connection such as telephone or software internet program such as Class Live Pro, or as an audio or video record.

8. For on-line: Deliver the speech to your assigned peers and capture in your journal their reactions and recommendations. More detailed information will be provided on the delivery medium for the presentation.

9. Complete a written evaluation of the speech(es) presented to you by your assigned peer(s). The form will ask you to critically assess the impact and persuasiveness of the speeches' delivery and the power, clarity, and logic of your peers' thinking and evidential support. The form for evaluation is attached to this syllabus.

Peer Speech Assessment

Critically assess the quality and power of the speech and its delivery. Answer the following questions concerning the speech(es) presented to you. Submit your assessment to your instructor as directed.

1. If you were a student, faculty, or staff member, would you be moved to consider the plan proposed? Why, or why not?

2. If you were a student, faculty, or staff member, would you commit yourself to the change requested? Why or why not?

3. Was the plan clear and obviously supportive of the four outcomes? Why or why not?

4. Was the evidence used to support the ideas and plan persuasive? Why or why not?

5. Was the delivery of the speech easily understood and engaging? Why or why not?

6. How could this speech be improved to increase its effectiveness and power?