Organization-focused Change Networks as Levers for Systemic Change: Highlights of Research on their Nature, Functioning, and Lifecycles

Transforming higher education institutions to fulfill more effectively their missions to learners and the broader society involves fostering change in several complex and interrelated issues. These areas for change include improving undergraduate learning, advancing more equitable academic contexts, creating stronger student research experiences, and preparing doctoral students to be effective teachers as well as capable researchers. One effective approach to fostering and supporting such change efforts is through Organization-focused Change Networks (OCNs), whose members are higher education organizations. This poster highlights findings and lessons from a multi-year National Science Foundation-funded study of the nature, development, and functioning of OCNs. The specific OCNs studied are: Advanced Technological Education Network (ATE); Bay View Alliance (BVA); Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL); Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC); Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE); and the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU). Drawing on interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and document analysis, the research has led to findings that shed light on OCNs in three important domains, which will be highlighted in the poster: (1) Relationship of OCNs to their environmental contexts, in which OCNs connect actors, navigate opportunity, and manage barriers; (2) Lifecycles of OCNs, including formation; development and growth; maturity, sustainability, and resilience; and transformation or death; and (3) Critical Tasks that networks must address at each stage as they develop, change, and function over time, including their Purpose and Problem, Leadership and Governance, Membership and Scale, and Funding and Sustainability. With reference to these findings, the study deepens the knowledge base on effective change processes in higher education; highlights insights about how OCNs (networks comprised of higher education institutions) can foster systemic change within institutions and across the broader landscape; and provides lessons relevant to those leading or participating in inter-institutional change initiatives.