The Reality of Institutional Transformation
While change has always been part of academia, the current rate of transformation is undermining the viability of institutions that once seemed unassailable. Between 2016 and 2023, more than 90 colleges closed their doors permanently.
This challenge is particularly acute for institutions with long-established cultural and historical foundations. Many colleges face the delicate balance of honoring tradition while embracing the innovation necessary for survival. For faith-based institutions, especially, the challenge is twofold: meeting external demands while staying true to their core missions and values.
Through my work with college presidents and governing boards, I’ve seen how technological disruption, financial pressures, post-pandemic student readiness gaps, and the increasingly politicized landscape around DEI have made leadership more complex than ever. These factors are not temporary; they are structural and long-term.
Why 80% of Change Initiatives Fail (And How to Be in the Successful 20%)
Roughly 80% of change efforts in higher education fail. Not because leaders lack vision—but because they lack a structured, strategic approach to implementation.
Common breakdowns include:
Misaligned priorities
Inadequate stakeholder engagement
No clear implementation roadmap
One foundational truth drives successful change: People support what they help create. Faculty, staff, and students don’t want to be informed after decisions are made—they want a voice before decisions are finalized. That doesn’t undermine authority; it strengthens alignment and trust.
The Three Pillars of Effective Change Management in Higher Education
Holistic Thinking: Connecting the Institutional Dots
Higher education institutions are ecosystems. When you change one part, others are impacted—sometimes in unexpected ways.
For example, adopting a new LMS may seem like a tech decision. But in reality, it affects pedagogy, faculty workload, IT demands, and the student experience. Leaders who succeed at change are those who map and anticipate these ripple effects.
Ask not just, “Will this solve our immediate issue?” but, “What will this disrupt—and are we ready for those secondary effects?”
Strategic Alignment: Ensuring Organizational Coherence
Even a brilliant strategy will fail if it’s unsupported by operational systems, budget allocations, and structure. I call this the “organizational congruence test”—are all parts of your institution working in concert, or at cross purposes?
If your strategic plan focuses on student success, but your budget favors recruitment over retention, you’re undercutting your own strategy. Alignment isn’t just about written plans—it’s about daily practice across departments.
Strategic Alignment requires leaders to consistently evaluate whether people, policies, and systems are enabling or impeding strategic goals.
Stakeholder Attunement: Building the Coalition for Change
In practice, this means co-designing solutions with representative groups, not just soliciting input. Leadership teams benefit from structured listening sessions and joint planning retreats that build institutional ownership of the outcomes.
The most overlooked driver of successful change is deep engagement. This goes beyond courtesy updates or town halls—it means genuine involvement in shaping the direction of the change.
Stakeholders must be seen as partners in governance, not just audiences for communication. That includes faculty senates, student governments, board members, and staff associations.
True engagement:
Surfaces objections early
Builds ownership across campus
Reduces resistance and improves implementation speed
As the saying goes, people want a say in decisions that will affect them—before those decisions are made.
Navigating the Change Process: It’s Not Linear
Institutions that fail during change often treat it like a linear project plan. But real change is dynamic and adaptive.
Think of it like driving through a city. You may hit traffic, roadblocks, or construction—but you still find a way to reach your destination. Effective change plans anticipate detours, build in flexibility, and include contingency strategies.
Strategic planning must be more than vision—it must be operational, detailed, and realistic.
Building Your High-Performance Implementation Team
In successful consulting engagements, presidents and senior leadership teams are supported in assessing internal talent and identifying individuals who can serve as force multipliers during change efforts. Institutions are also guided in structuring implementation teams to ensure those leaders have both the authority and support to act decisively.
Who leads the change matters. Success hinges on assembling your best internal talent—not whoever has spare time.
Look for:
Stakeholder Leaders: Trusted influencers with credibility across the institution.
Results-and-Process Thinkers: People who care about outcomes and how you get there.
Entrepreneurial Problem-Solvers: Those who thrive in ambiguity and can break through bureaucracy.
These individuals must understand your mission, operational realities, and strategic goals. Higher education may not operate like Silicon Valley—but combining academic insight with business acumen is what enables real transformation.
Essential Traits for Change Leaders of Colleges and Universities
Leading change in higher ed—especially in faith-based or mission-driven institutions—requires more than managerial skill. It requires clarity of vision, resilience under pressure, and an ability to lead through tension without compromising the mission.
Effective leaders:
Inspire trust while maintaining accountability
Stay grounded in institutional values
Know when to bring in external expertise to guide complex transitions
Leadership is the difference between a plan on paper and a change that sticks.
Five Practices for Leading Change
Borrowing from The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, five leadership behaviors are essential during institutional change:
Model the Way: Embody the values and standards you expect from others.
Inspire a Shared Vision: Rally people around a compelling, future-oriented mission.
Challenge the Process: Question outdated systems and be willing to take risks for improvement.
Enable Others to Act: Empower teams with authority, tools, and trust.
Encourage the Heart: Recognize wins, celebrate progress, and fuel long-term morale.
When these practices are embedded across leadership, change gains momentum and legitimacy.
Change Management in Action: Real-World Applications and Examples
At one mid-sized college, a move toward blended learning initially met with resistance. However, involving faculty early, offering training, and setting up peer mentors helped shift the culture. The result? Broader adoption, better student outcomes, and higher faculty satisfaction.
Another institution launched a campus-wide sustainability effort by starting with open forums. Community voices shaped the initiative, and in return, the initiative gained community champions.
Planning for Sustainable Change in Higher Education
Role clarity and continuity beyond strategy design add measurable value. Ongoing advisory support through implementation and evaluation phases helps boards and leadership teams adjust in real time based on feedback and emerging data.
Institutions that wait too long to adapt often find themselves reacting under pressure—rather than leading on their terms.
The institutions that thrive:
Engage their community early and often
Align internal structures to support strategy
Plan for success and for resistance, resource gaps, and political complexities
Sustaining change means treating it as a continuous cycle: planning, implementing, evaluating, adjusting, and repeating.
Getting Started with Effective Change Management in Higher Education
As you consider the change imperatives facing your institution, begin with these key steps:
Do you have the right people in place to lead implementation?
Are your strategies aligned with your structures and operations?
Have you created meaningful opportunities for stakeholder involvement?
Do you have a detailed implementation roadmap with flexibility built in?
If you’re unsure where to begin in navigating institutional change, focus on one high-impact change initiative. Use it as a proving ground for building the coalitions, structures, and mindset your institution will need for future transformation.
Change management in higher education isn’t about issuing directives from the top. It’s about creating the conditions where your institutional community can adapt, align, and lead through complexity—together.
When people help shape the solution, they rarely oppose its implementation.
About the Author
Dr. Drumm McNaughton is a higher education consultant who advises college and university presidents, boards, and leadership teams on strategic planning, accreditation, and institutional transformation. As CEO of The Change Leader, he brings more than 20 years of experience guiding institutions through complex change. He is also the host of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast.
