This qualitative case study focusing on a collegewide change initiative was conducted to provide community college leaders with a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the role of subcultures in planned change. Research indicates that institutional culture is a primary factor in the success of change programs; however, little research has been conducted on the influence of organizational subcultures on planned change in community colleges. The results of this study indicate that subcultural groups differently experience, respond to, and influence planned change in a community college, leading to strategies for more effective planned change programs.

This chapter highlights the history of workforce baccalaureate degrees in Florida, documents the growth of these programs across the state, and provides a framework for the designation of various degree types and academic requirements. Florida's new College System is described as one of the largest and most innovative systems of higher education for increasing access to four‐year workforce baccalaureates.

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 4year 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

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.

No abstract