MOBILIZING FOR MAJOR CHANGE: A CASE STUDY OF CHANGE COMMUNICATIONS AT A LIBERAL ARTS WOMEN’S COLLEGE

Though historically higher education has been no stranger to change, institutions continually face challenges, as they strive to deliver on their missions. As external and internal forces continually bombard institutions, change is more of a necessity than a strategy for many institutions. Understanding communications in deciding on the change to pursue and then sharing about the change both internally and externally is integral to ongoing operations of many institutions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role and impact of communications in a change initiative and to identify practical insights on how to effectively use communications to navigate change. A single case study of a liberal arts women’s college deciding on, planning, and announcing a major change initiative, a tuition reset, was conducted to better understand the role and impact of communications in a change initiative. From this study, three themes emerged that help answer the research questions about the role of communication in change decisions, the process of creating communication strategies, and how the strategies are implemented: (a) impact of presidential leadership; (b) necessity of partnerships; and (c) criticality of systematic end-to-end planning and monitoring. Within these themes, practical lessons arose in creating communication strategies, plans, and tactics, exemplifying the role communication plays in the navigation of change. The findings highlight the integral role that communication plays, from ideation to completion of the change, and ways it is used with various stakeholder groups, including the president, the board of trustees, and internal and external stakeholders of the institution.