ADVANCE and Beyond
Project Description
The ADVANCE and Beyond study is examining working processes of organizational change that take place "behind the scenes" in large, complex, institutional change projects in higher education. These processes stand separately from the particular interventions or strategies chosen to enact change, but may support those interventions in a variety of ways—perhaps helping to organize people and work, to identify and strengthen synergies across multiple strands of effort, to use data and make decisions, or to build connections with allies or stakeholder groups. By strengthening linkages and deepening the impact of a given set of change interventions, effective processes may also help to sustaining and institutionalizing the changes that a project has achieved. Processes related to leadership, data use, evaluation, collaboration, and communication are examples that have been important in prior ADVANCE projects. Because of their supportive and structural role, we think of these as "scaffolding" processes.
See the comprehensive Study Website for more information.
SEED, Structured Expert Enquiry Dialogue**
Structured Expert Enquiry Dialogue is a cross between a focus group and a reflective workshop. SEEDs emphasize structured dialogue between our research team and a group of 5-7 ADVANCE team members from a single campus, and draw on teams' expertise on their own change work and institutional context. Through a collaborative enquiry process, we generate insights that are useful to us as researchers and to project teams as change agents.
Each SEED is in a private workspace area not visible for public view. If you are looking for a SEED discussion workspace, contact Sandra Laursen (sandra.laursen@colorado.edu).
** Laursen, S. L., De Welde, K., & Austin, A. E. (2019).Workshop Report: ADVANCE and Beyond; Thinking Strategically about Faculty-Based Institutional Change. Boulder, CO, Charleston, SC, & East Lansing, MI.
** Austin, A. E., & Laursen, S. L. (2015). Organizational Change Strategies in ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Projects: Synthesis of a Working Meeting. Boulder, CO, and East Lansing, MI.
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