The Civic Engagement Cluster:
A Case Study of Building Interorganizational Collaboration

Appendix D - KNIT Participant Project Descriptions 34

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Portland State University - The University Studies program, aimed at reforming the undergraduate curriculum, is in its sixth year at Portland State; the 1999 graduating class will be the second class to have gone through the entire four-year curriculum. The freshman and sophomore components of the program are firmly established and have strong faculty and student support. The junior and senior components are still being modified. The curriculum has affected the campus community in many positive ways, including making teaching a more public activity at the institution and involving graduate and undergraduate students in the process of mentoring and teaching. The next phase of the change initiative at PSU will reform the graduate curriculum to reflect the new institutional values, and push the undergraduate curriculum out to the community colleges so that the large number of transfer students at PSU can more easily adapt to the University Studies curriculum. Resources continue to be an issue. Changes at the state system level in Oregon have the potential to positively affect the resource issue at Portland State - the state legislature is considering the possibility of letting institutions keep their tuition dollars, and also allowing them to count extended study and summer school students in their enrollment numbers. This would be good for Portland State because they bring in the most tuition dollars in the state and they serve a large number of students through their extended study and summer programs. They were previously unable to count these students in the number that determined state funding.

University of Arizona - The University of Arizona change initiative aims to add a fourth dimension - people - to the three dimensions - research, teaching and service - traditionally recognized as important at colleges and universities. To develop the people dimension at the University of Arizona, there is an increased focus on campus life and community. Four programs highlight the focus, the Ambassadors Program (improving the employment processes), the Connections Program (student involvement in the community), the Preceptor Program (student involvement in classroom), and the Program for Academic Leadership (department head development). These four programs have been successful in improving relations with the minority communities of Tucson, providing greater attention to and investment in department head development, strengthening community partnerships through community grants, and expanding opportunities for student-faculty interaction and career-related experiences. Phase II of the Kellogg grant will devote money to sustaining the programs and making them permanent pieces of the University of Arizona structure.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities - MNSCU is an enormous system in Minnesota which employs over 15,000 people and 7,500 faculty members, offers 3500+ programs, and serves 120,000 students each year. The goals of the system are to address the changing needs of its student body, reach more students, and contribute to the formation of a productive workforce. The system is trying to keep up with the demands of the workplace and the growing economy and maintain the academic quality of its programs. The Phase II Kellogg change initiative at MNSCU proposes a Leadership Institute to help administrators and faculty to be creative and transformative leaders. The Leadership Institute will build on the previous Kellogg initiative (Kellogg Leadership Exchange Program) which allowed promising institutional leaders to learn about different parts of the system. The new Institute will be a two-year program and serve between 30 and 40 people. The low trust levels between the institutions and the system office poses a significant obstacle to the progress of the change initiative at MNSCU.

Olivet College - The Olivet change initiative centers on issues of diversity. The first phase included the identification of three critical challenges and development of the Olivet Plan and the Olivet College Compact. Key components of the second phase are community-based learning, student portfolios, and the new Character Education Resource Center. Evidence that the first phase of changes are having positive effects include the campus acceptance and use of the College Compact, the commitment of the first graduating class to self and community, and the increased representation of minority students on campus (from 6% in 1993 to 23% in 1999). Cultural transformation remains a significant issue for Olivet. The College Compact encouraged reevaluation of significant aspects of the student culture (such as Greek life), and also contributed to a greater willingness on the part of the faculty and staff to address problems openly. Additionally, non-academic staff are encouraged to take responsibility for their role in student learning and character education. However, changing campus norms and institutional roles is a slow process and one without a clear formula. Institutional representatives expect President F.J. Talley, who will start in the fall of 1999, to play a significant role in addressing the cultural and resource issues.

Alverno College - The Alverno student population (2000 students) is all women, mainly commuters, who take classes both on weekdays and weekends. Alverno has been working to make its campus a student-centered learning community since the early 1970s. The structure of the institution as well as institutional expectations of faculty, staff, and students, is organized to reflect the focus on student learning. To graduate, students must demonstrate key abilities as well as mastery of a discipline. Alverno adopted a matrix structure of ability and disciplinary departments, and faculty serve in both an ability department and a discipline department. Processes of evaluation (self and institutional) and change have been built into the institutional structure to the point that change is an expected part of everyday life at Alverno. Alverno's Kellogg proposal for Phase II focuses on learning to use technology to enhance learning. To fully integrate the use of technology in the curriculum, the departments at Alverno will evaluate the ways in which technology can most effectively be used as a delivery tool and as a vehicle for assessment.

Managing Institutional Change and Transformation

Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
2117 School of Education
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The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259