Leadership in Distance LearningThe Art of Managing Change to

Transform Institutions

John Sneed, Director of Distance Education Portland Community College

What a Pretentious Title!

Art?Creative-making up as we goOriginal solutions

Managing Change?Change happens – we don’t make it happenDirecting powerful societal forces

Transform institutions?Colleges are different than 15 years agoTransformation is a process

“Creating and conveying technological visions powerful enough to displace traditional educational models is one of the most challenging aspects of leadership.”

Chris Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor ofLearning Technologies, Harvard University

Why is Leadership in Distance Learning So Difficult?

Higher Education is conservativeDistance Learning is disruptiveTechnology is not just a toolAbsence of a career pathConfused fiscal modelsAdministrative ambivalenceDemands collaborationBureaucratic inertia-no rewards for

visionaries

A Distance Learning Leadership Sampler

How to navigate the politics of distance learning?

How to lead when you have the responsibility but not the authority?

How to lead from the middle?How to lead when everyone wants a piece of

the action

The Politics of DE Leadership

Fred LokkenAssociate Dean

WebCollege & Academic Support CenterTruckee Meadows Community College

DE is different

Although couched as just “another delivery method”, DE offers a significant challenge to the traditional campus culture Cross-disciplinary Cross-institutional Counter-campus culture

DE challenges administrative “silos”

Consequences

Senior administrators don’t know how to manage DE and/or don’t exactly know how to structure and support it Who does DE report to? How to staff and budget DE? What kind of space/equipment is needed? Centralized or decentralized model?

Perceived as a threat by other units (competing for limited staff, budget & space)

Consequences (2)

As a result, DE programs often lag other campus units in: Staff Budget Space Authority

DE Leadership: A Strategy for Success

Qualities needed to be successful:

1.  Ability to see the bigger picture2.  A sense of campus politics/identify key allies 3.  Recognize the value - and power - of data4. The ability to be a “missionary” for DE5.  The need to be inclusive/collaborative6. Monitor trends in your state/nationally (ITC)7.  The need to be tenacious (never give up/never surrender!)

Success stories

Every panelist represents a very successful DE program – the TMCC Story

“Success” is measured by: Organizational acceptance Faculty/student/staff acceptance Commitment to quality Meeting the needs of your students/campus

Leadership in Distance LearningDistributed Leadership

Mary WellsQuality Matters Consultant

Leadership Issue:

How do you lead if youhave the responsibility but not the authority?

Project Management Team

Mary Wells (co-director)Chris Sax (co-director)Kay Kane (coordinator)

Cynthia FranceJurgen HilkeJohn Sener

Wendy Gilbert

Working Committees

Process(Joan McMahon,

Mary Wells)

Tool Set(Jurgen Hilke,

Chris Sax)

Training(Cynthia France,Wendy Gilbert)

Scholarly Development

(Kay Shattuck)

Advisory Board

MarylandOnline(Wendy Gilbert, Suzanne Moret)

Project Evaluator (John Sener)

External Evaluator(Anne Agee)

Instructional Representatives

Faculty & Their Courses

Peer Course Reviewers

Instructional Designers

Affinity Group

Administrative Representatives

Quality Matters:Inter-Institutional Quality Assurance in Online Learning

QM Organizational Chart

others, as needed

Course & Peer Reviewer Selection

External Partners:

Florida CC/Jacksonville, Kentucky Virtual Univ, Michigan Virtual CC Consortium, Portland CC, Raritan Valley CC,

Sloan Consortium, SREB, Towson Univ, WCET

Chief Academic Officers

Distributed Leadership Is …

a model which allows leadership to emerge to meet a specific need

Characteristics include: Responsibility for successful completion resides

with Director(s) Foundation = Goals & Objectives of Project Flexible structure to encourage:

– participation, divergent thinking, creativity

Leaders self-identify or are recruited Match needs & skills

Critical Factors Leading to Distributed Leadership

Compelling projectComplex (no single “right way” to do it)Solves a recognized need Immediate impact on need/problemRelated directly to professional/personal

interests

Challenges to Leading

CommitmentTrustLetting GoCommunicationEvaluationFinding Balance

• Structure / Flexibility• Big-Picture / Details• Present / Future• Thinkers / Do-ers• Cooperative / Divergent

Thinkers• Authority / Consensus

A Complex Project When You Have Responsibility With No Authority:

Leadership in Distance Learning

Leading From the Center

Loraine SchmittDirector of Distance Education and Academic Technology

Chemeketa Community College

Leading from the Center

Autonomy can give a director a sense of personal control over daily operations, but the long-term results of isolation from the mainstream of campus process carries a heavy price. (Wunsch, 2000)

Strategic Planning via Collaboration

Set a directionCreate a collaborative effortFacilitate the effortCreate a culture of dialogueTake ActionDevelop a shared understanding & vision

Setting a Direction

Formal structure Analysis- SWOC Vision, goals, strategies Recommendation - ASK

• Executive support• Task force- 15 departments• Charge• Plan

Clarity about purpose and outcome

Creating a Culture of Dialogue

Prepare for the conversation-content/structure 4 teams – Self-select Goals, hot topics, strengths, anticipate push back

Open discussion – listen, paraphrase, genuine empathy

Address hard questionsDocument the conversation

Validation, retain integrity, respect for timeStrong facilitationExpect the unexpectedFeed them!!

Develop a Shared Understanding & Vision

Dialogue leads to shared understanding Teams – full task force – teams – task force Team members present Continue to document- preserve ideas More depth – needs, challenges, hopes

Shared understanding leads to shared vision Multiple perspectives, big picture Consensus

OutcomesStrategic plan developedDeveloped a commitment to the effort

Example: Student Services Audit Process allowed people to bring their issues

and interests into the conversationLegitimized their roles and need for

outcomes of the task force

Outcomes continued

• Allowed individuals to move to the same side of the table to discuss issues

• Framed a perspective that served the organization vs. individuals representing the perspective of “1”

• Demonstration of shift in leadership - from autonomous to collaborative

• Foundation in place – support future initiatives

I think a major act of leadership right now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and processes so people can actually learn together, using our experiences.

Margaret J. Wheatley

Leadership in Distance Learning

Twelve Lessons for Creating and Sustaining a Successful eLearning

Enterprise

Lynda Womer, Associate Provost Electronic Campus St. Petersburg College

Lesson 1

VERIFY CENTRALITY TO COLLEGE MISSION

Support of President and key leaders

Include in college mission statement

Recognize need for system changes

Lesson 2

BUILD INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT

Promote institution-wide benefits

Use existing faculty

eCampus= everyone’s campus

Lesson #3

RECOGNIZE PEDAGOGICAL DIFFERENCES

Same outcomes; different delivery

Good content is not sufficient

Lesson #4

INVEST IN INSTRUCTIONALDEVELOPMENT & TRAINING

instructional technology support

Pathways to eLearning

faculty mentor program

Lesson #5

ORCHESTRATE A SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT

Creation & promotion of a central administrative department

“one-stop shop” approach

Begin with cyberadvising

Lesson #6

PROVIDE A FULL RANGE OF ELECTRONIC SERVICES

clicks supported by bricks

educational and student services

access services remotely or on-site: it’s the student’s choice

Lesson #7

DEVELOP A ROBUST INFRA-STRUCTURE & SUPPORT NETWORK

the “care and feeding” of access

help desk, tools, tutors, tutorials

e-literacy

Lesson #8

ENGAGE IN ON-GOING MARKETING & MARKET RESEARCH

“is ecampus right for you”

Visitors survey

demographic profile, SSI

Lesson #9

EMBRACE ACCOUNTABILITY AND AN ONGOING QUEST FOR QUALITY

Development Checklist, Flexible Access, 3 year review, Signature courses

Retention rates and grade distribution

Student survey of instruction and performance standards for students, instructors, administrators

Lesson #10

BE REALISTIC ABOUT COSTS

models existassessing “lab fees”

Lesson #11

DON’T MAKE IT MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT IS

paralysis by analysis

institutional procedures could be adapted or adopted

online courses: not better, not worse, just different delivery

Lesson #12RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE ON

A CHANGE TREADMILL

increase the pace to stay in place

formulas for resource allocations

PREPARE FOR CHANGE….

Problem: Productivity

Too many online students, not enough staff!

Massive reorganization college-wide

Re-education, training, training, and more training

Old Organizational Chart

PresidentVice President for Academic & Student Services

Provost of Seminole/eCampusAssociate Provost of Seminole eCampus

One Department: eCampuseCampus Program Director – (multi-discipline)

CyberadvisorsStaff

Proposed Solution: Decentralization

Spread the Wealth and ResponsibilitiesPROS:- College-wide scheduling- College-wide student services- College-wide training- College-wide buy-in

CONS:- Confused students- Confused staff

New Organizational Chart

PresidentVice President for Academic & Student Services

Provosts for 4 Campuses and 3 CentersAssociate Provosts for 4 Campuses and 3 Centers

6 Academic Deans (college-wide)24+ Academic Chairs (6 per campus)

Cyberadvisors (2 per campus)eCampus skeletal staff

Office staff college-wide

Outcome: Too soon to tell

Year 1 of new organizational chartDean, Staff and Students are still learning

the proceduresFlorida education budgets facing severe

cutbacks

Recommendation:Enlist Traits of Good Leadership

- Honesty - Fair-Minded- Competence - Broad-Minded- Forward-Looking - Courageous- Inspiring - Straightforward- Intelligent - Imaginative Traits of a Good Leader by the Tom Peters Group

Trait: Distributed Leadership

With an emphasis on

TEAMWORKeven when Teamwork seems

to be MORE work.

“Retreat? Hell, we just got here!” Captain Lloyd Williams, Officer in the United States Marine

Corps, World War I, 1918, when advised to withdraw by a French officer at the defensive line.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill

2009 Leadership Academy

• Understand your organization

• Develop your own leadership model

• Identify and acquire key tools

• Gain a network of practitioners

July 26-29, 2009

Costa Mesa, California