Leading Innovation and Change: A Guide for Chief Student Affairs Officers on Shaping the Future

The world of higher education is changing, yet too many colleges and universities act as if it isn’t. Demands for higher education reform are affecting colleges and universities and impacting divisions of student affairs. A series of macro forces have aligned to challenge higher education and create a compelling need for change: increased demand for institutional accountability, changing student demographics, the rapidly evolving world of work, advances in technology, and new pressures on students to find meaning and purpose. In these turbulent times, chief student affairs officers are uniquely positioned to lead campuswide change initiatives. Leading Innovation and Change is a manual for implementing systemic transformational change in colleges and universities. The authors detail eight steps for revolutionizing the division of student affairs into a leader and producer of institutionwide innovation and change. They present a combination of organizational theory, effective strategies, helpful tools, and practical advice, and discuss the conditions that must be present for an organization to overcome resistance to change. The student affairs function is becoming increasingly vulnerable on some campuses at a time when it can become the most valuable asset for innovation. Leading Innovation and Change offers a wealth of information and ideas for chief student affairs officers as well as other student affairs executives and aspirants for planning, implementing, and sustaining successful change initiatives that support thriving institutions of higher learning.