It's Not Just a Job Anymore: The Influence of Cultural Change on Student Services Staff in a Community College

Autor/inn/en	Locke, Mary G.; Guglielmino, Lucy
Titel	It's Not Just a Job Anymore: The Influence of Cultural Change on Student Services Staff in a Community College
Quelle	In: NASPA Journal, 43 (2006) 2, S.216-242 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1559-5455
Schlagwörter	Community Colleges; Enrollment Management; Accountability; Organizational Change; Case Studies; Interviews; Questionnaires; Data Collection; Focus Groups; Student Personnel Services; Subcultures; Professional Development; Student Personnel Workers + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Community college; Community College; Verantwortung; Organisationswandel; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Fragebogen; Data capture; Datensammlung; Subculture; Subkultur
Abstract	Today's colleges and universities operate in a complex environment characterized by rapid and unrelenting change, and nowhere do the challenges inherent in change more directly impact students than in the delivery of student services. The need to integrate new models of service delivery, data-driven approaches to enrollment management, greater accountability for student success, stronger emphasis on customer service, and provision of "anytime, anyplace" services through technology are readily evident. Yet, many institutions are finding that their internal cultures are unreceptive, even hostile, toward adopting needed changes. This qualitative case study focusing on a 4-year purposeful change initiative at a community college was conducted to provide higher educational leaders with a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the influence of cultural change on student services staff. The results of this study indicated that student services staff constituted a distinct subculture that perceived, experienced, responded to, and influenced planned change differently from other subcultural groups. Specifically, student services staff more demonstrably supported the purpose of the change initiative; identified empowerment, inclusion and involvement in college decision-making, and improved lines of communication as the most important impacts of the change process; and expressed strong confidence regarding the sustainability of the changes that had occurred. Student services staff also indicated that they found greater meaning and developed stronger commitment to their work as a result of the change process. As a result of these findings, implications and strategies that may be helpful in designing and implementing a successful planned change initiative involving student services personnel are presented. (Contains 2 tables.) (Author).
Anmerkungen	NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 418, Washington, DC 20009. Tel: 202-265-7500; Fax: 202-797-1157; Web site: http://www.naspa.org/pubs/index.cfm.
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10