Abstract
In this interview with Professor of Organizational Administration and Kean University Chancellor Allison Higgins, the topic of creating a culture of change at the university level is revealed. On the basis of personal experience, Higgins discusses the specifics of introducing innovations in the university environment and the reasons for the formation of stagnation in higher education. Special attention is paid to the role of leadership formation and the methods by which this can be achieved.
Introduction
This is the interview with Professor of Organizational Administration and Kean University Chancellor Allison Higgins. After a bachelor’s degree in management at Northeastern University, Higgins received a Master of Science degree in Organizational Behavior and then a Ph.D. in Organization Studies from Cornell University. She became Kean University Chancellor in 2018 to conduct organizational research and participate in the reform of educational programs at the university, creating the campus’s new environment and encouraging the evolution of thinking among colleagues and students. Higgins has previously authored a number of papers on innovative approaches in high education and leadership for educational change.
Interview
Allison, having studied your background, we found that you have always been interested in the subject of higher education reforms. Please explain why this topic seemed important to you.
Of course. I was pursuing my bachelor’s degree in organizational management and was interested in leading innovation and change. For a free competitive market, it is clear that the motivator is a do-or-die scheme. Businesses are forced to look for optimization approaches in order to survive constantly. To do this, they continuously have data from customers and competitors. This does not happen in education as the demand for education is high, and there is always a need for more teaching staff.
Moreover, education is poorly connected with the market; it cannot immediately assess the demand of a modern employer and industry. Developing new educational programs takes at least a decade, even in the information society and digital technologies world, where everything changes constantly (Amis, 2018). Against this background, education is an incredibly rigid system that cannot quickly respond to changes in weight (Fullan & Ballew, 2020). It became apparent to me that we must nurture a new approach to continuous self-reform in schools and universities.
Why did Kean University decide to invite you as a teacher and chancellor in 2018? Why did you agree?
In 2017-2018, accreditation of study programs took place at Kean University, which ran into several difficulties. The university had to file an appeal and challenge the decision that its physician assistant program is decades old (Tat, 2018). Of course, the administration managed to defend the program, but it thought about creating an environment for continuous innovative and educational change. As I said earlier, educators may go into a deep study of their subject without paying attention to the demands of modern society (Fullan & Ballew, 2020). I was interested in working at Kean University, as this educational institution has many advantages and development potential. For example, the university faculty and student body are highly diverse and have an inclusive educational and campus environment (Watts, 2022). In such an environment, it would be possible to test how leadership among teachers and students can create change.
What changes did you introduce to the work of the university?
My approach is based on the network and open innovation paradigms, which examine what factors influence the status of a university. Research has shown that universities with a high rate of relational engagement are the most likely to innovate (Huggins et al., 2020). The term open innovation refers to the nature of the network, including administration, teachers, and students in a vast network of teaching, researching, and managing projects (Huggins et al., 2020). Such activities must comply with an essential condition – to be at the intersection of different areas of knowledge, activity, and cultures and involve people of different social statuses (Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2020). Do you understand why the diversity level at Kean University seemed promising to me? The world now requires us to have interdisciplinary communication skills for the consciousness of a successful product (Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2020). These competencies make students and teachers the most flexible and successful, not obsessed with textbook knowledge. By acquiring actual knowledge on real platforms, the university provides time and space for their reflection, analysis, and philosophizing.
We have created and strengthened a number of programs involving students and faculty in project activities. Our strong athletic program and drama theater are examples. It seems to many people that these are hobby groups created for the self-realization of talented students. In fact, these are large enterprises within the university with management, leadership, accounting, social networks, marketing departments, and so on. Students use project work as the basis for their coursework and other assessments, and educators constantly gather new, hands-on data that encourages them to think creatively about processes. Moreover, we created similar projects with other universities, firms, and local businesses. Such activities motivate students and their mentors to combine classical knowledge and theories with real-world experiences.
How did the leadership style affect the change process? How did the process affect your performance and internal motivation?
For the implementation of my program, it was necessary for me to demonstrate leadership skills and create an environment for others’ efficient leadership development. In the democratic, creative, and loose structure of the university, you will not be able to achieve anything using an authoritarian management style. It is necessary to create a culture of innovation and change that will put forward its leaders, who must be given opportunities for development and freedom of expression (Hord & Hall, 2019). First, you created a demand for managers and leaders who would like to participate in projects. We allowed them to use their experience and know-how to pass exams and take courses in their areas of specialization.
Then, the students began to propose projects, so a system was created for drafting proposals and funding for the best research, teaching, and cultural projects. I tried to be flexible and listen to the interests of students and teachers since the main goal was to support their leadership and motivation rather than to implement some specific project that no one might need. It is always worth proceeding from the needs and capabilities of people.
How does the organizational culture interact with the change process?
The university is a fantastic environment where ideas and youthful energy are prioritized. More than a hundred projects of various sizes are currently being implemented on campus. For example, one of the hostels is implementing an eco-program with the study and use of renewable energy and the introduction of meatless Mondays as an experience of reducing the environmental impact on the Earth. Someone manages each of these projects, and someone oversees their implementation. Because the number of projects is growing, one can note the success of the culture of change development. Following this, the number of scientific papers that teachers and students publish is growing, which is not surprising because they get a new experience for analysis.
Conclusion
Professor of Organizational Administration Allison Higgins became Kean University Chancellor at a difficult time when the university had problems with accreditation. Then, it became evident that it was necessary to motivate employees to change, innovate, and be creative in research and teaching. However, given the diversity of approaches and areas of expertise in each department, it was impossible to bring down new standards of quality from above. Allison Higgins understood this and created an innovative design environment around the ‘open innovation’ paradigms. Higgins has built a network of interactions between faculty, students, administration, and outside institutions based on individual project work.
The results of the work were an increase in the number of projects, creative programs, and scientific publications from motivated students and teachers within the university. This approach allowed the natural selection of leaders and gave them the means to implement their ideas. Some of the workloads were removed from the leaders, as participation in extracurricular activities was counted as part of the assessment of course completion or teaching workload. Despite the period of online education during the pandemic, students and teachers were motivated to continue project activities based on the culture of change in the university environment.
References
Amis, J. M. (2018). Understanding organization change and innovation: A conversation with Mike Tushman. Journal of Change Management, 18(1), 23–34. Web.
Fullan, M. & Ballew, A. C. (2020). Leading in a culture of change (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Hord, S.M. & Hall, G. E. (2019). Implementing change: Patterns, principles and potholes. Pearson.
Huggins, R., Prokop, D. & Thompson, P. (2020). Universities and open innovation: The determinants of network centrality. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 45(3), 718–757. Web.
Kukulska-Hulme, A., Beirne, E., Conole, G., Costello, E., Coughlan, T., Ferguson, R., FitzGerald, E., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Holmes, W., Mac Lochlain, C., Nic Giolla Mhichíl, M., Rienties, B., Sargent, J., Scanlon, E., Sharples, M. & Whitelock, D. (2020). Innovating Pedagogy 2020: Open University Innovation Report 8. The Open University. Web.
Tat, L. (2018). Latest accreditation issue at Kean University raises questions for lawmakers. POLITICO. Web.
Watts, T. (2022). Safe zone training and LGBTQ+ representation on campus. The Tower – The Independent Voice of Kean University, p. 10. Web.