Leading University Change: A Case Study of Meaning-Making and Implementing Online Learning Quality Standards

ABSTRACT This case study reports the collaborative meaning-making process and strategies for organizational change used by a diverse leadership team at a regional comprehensive university. The purpose of the study was to engage in continuous learning and improvement by producing knowledge for informing action; that is, to learn from analyzing the first phase of implementation in order to continue to improve, understand, and perhaps adjust in order to contribute to institutional change. Initiated by outcomes from a 2017 regional accreditation review and the recent development of a Global Campus, administrators, faculty, and instructional design and technology staff were charged with developing standards for quality university distance education. This study addresses lived experiences in the story of institutional change by reporting critical events, tensions, and turning points experienced by the leadership team relative to a change framework applied to distance education in a higher education setting. Over a two-year period (2018–2020), the team piloted, communicated, and refined plans as they began implementing the first of four phases in their quality assurance plan, including assessing 751 course syllabi for entry-level design standards. Findings indicate the process of enacting change also began shifting the culture of the university for purposes of quality assurance, consistency, and shared understandings of rigor. In this article, the team describes and discusses their framework using Kotter’s Change Model, their process, and their outcomes related to organizational change in higher education. Discussion addresses starting points for other higher education stakeholders involved in pursuing quality distance education.