Change theory, a field in education that has evolved significantly over the past century, offers invaluable insights into the intricate process of implementing change at an individual and organizational level.
Effectively applying these theories is a critical task for university executives—especially considering the digital advancements, innovative instructional practices, and changing market landscape these institutions face. Change theory is applied to improve all areas concerning teaching, such as:
Developing personalized lesson plans that better address individual barriers and resistance to change
Building change capacity so departments can efficiently adopt new teaching modalities
Overhauling curricula so learning better prepares students for real-world application
Adopting hybrid learning models to make up for the declining in-person enrollment
However, despite the academic focus and strategic imperatives, leaders still need to work on applying change theory in alignment with their organizational goals. Worse, only 13% of higher education institutions invest in critical change initiatives like digital transformation.
Today, we’ll look at change theory, how it’s applied across higher education, and how Prosci applies decades of change management expertise to enact change at these institutions.
What Is Change Theory in Education?
Change theory is a framework that leaders across higher education use to drive efficient change on an organizational level. It attempts to explain the factors that help and hinder people from adopting new processes and systems while outlining why change can sometimes fail.
In higher education, change theory is particularly helpful as institutions work through pressing challenges:
Meeting the learning needs of students in a digital era
Updating critical components of digital infrastructure
Match the shifting paradigms of academia and students
Addressing resistance to change in the name of upholding tradition or protecting reputations
Change theories applied in educational institutions emerged from work in several fields—such as psychology, sociology, organizational behavior and management science—and have evolved to focus on specific organizational issues.
Researchers and funding agencies have recognized the need to understand how change occurs in unique environments like universities, colleges and teaching hospitals. A systematic review of evidence-based teaching practice can provide a solid foundation for understanding the change process.
Now, let’s examine why having a change theory in education is so important.
Addressing common objections and challenges
Higher education is quickly changing. Universities and colleges deal with operational issues impacting the financial bottom line and student long-term outcomes. As fewer students enroll in or complete degree programs, the old ways are increasingly being questioned.
Curriculum overhaul and remote learning options are viable solutions. However, these institutions still struggle to implement these changes due to resistance and other impediments to growth, like:
Reluctance to alter established practices
Fear of the unknown
Concerns about the effectiveness of new initiatives
Long implementation cycles
Investment to train staff and faculty
Measurement of change ROI
EdTech company D2L states that 70% of higher education change initiatives fail to meet goals because of employee resistance and inadequate management support.
Change theory is a proactive solution to resistance because it predicts all participant reactions to a new approach, including negative ones. To ensure the effective application of change theory, faculty heads, and organizational leaders must:
Communicate "why and how" – Convey the purpose behind the change and the steps towards implementation.
Equip teams – Provide training and resources to make staff receptive to change and help them navigate the process confidently.
Foster collaboration – Create a participative environment where feedback is valued, encouraged and acted upon.
Role-model the changes – Ensure that leaders provide a key example of institutional support for the change by adopting and applying new processes.
This strategy helps everyone understand and prepare for change and encourages everyone to work together toward a common goal.
Change Theory in Action—Examples in Education
Now that you better understand change theory, let’s look at some prominent examples of change theory in action. Here are a few major university initiatives that applied change theory to improve student learning outcomes and other organizational challenges.
The FIRST Project
One notable example is the Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST) Project. The FIRST Project aimed to improve undergraduate science education by engaging faculty members in a series of workshops designed to enhance their teaching methods and better address the needs of students. The project was grounded in the assumption that change must begin with the faculty at the forefront of education for change to be effective.
By focusing on developing faculty teaching practices, the FIRST Project facilitated a shift towards more student-centered learning approaches, which improve student engagement and learning outcomes.
This initiative is a prime example of change theory in action, where the change process starts by empowering key change agents—in this case, the faculty—and leads to a broader impact on the educational system.
Departmental Action Teams
Departmental Action Teams (DATs) are cross-functional teams composed of faculty, students and staff that work collaboratively to address specific issues within a department. DATs aim to create sustainable changes by building the change management capacity of key change agents within the organization.
For instance, the University of Colorado at Boulder uses DATs to help improve student educational outcomes across various departments. By involving faculty and department heads, these DATs develop and implement changes that are more likely to be accepted and supported within the context of humanities, engineering or science departments, leading to lasting improvements in educational practices across the board.
DATs are a great example of change theory applied in higher education. It’s a generalized approach that empowers specific departments within the larger institution in a contextual manner.
Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE)
The Partnership for Undergraduate Life Science Education (PULSE) initiative is a collaborative effort between higher education institutions responding to calls for significant improvements in undergraduate life science education. The PULSE initiative represents a concerted effort to transform life science education at colleges and universities across the United States.
PULSE refers to its overall initiative as a “theory of change,” a strategic model applied at the program level in higher education settings. Theory of change differs in that it outlines the how and why behind a change while change theory focuses on its implementation.
In the case of PULSE, the theory of change consists of the following components, which are implemented using change theory:
Core capacities developed in each department
Transformation strategies that new capacities would help implement
Departmental changes that each transformation strategy would facilitate
The collaboration of institutions under PULSE is focused on aligning life science education with the rapidly evolving field itself, ensuring that the curriculum is relevant and comprehensive. It prepares students for future challenges in research and various scientific fields.
PULSE Theory of Change
Moreover, PULSE's focus on implementing the recommendations of a national report highlights its strategic approach to change. This approach ensures that the changes made are:
Evidence-based
Targeted to specific outcomes
Aligned with broader goals in life science education
The initiative's success in driving change across numerous institutions demonstrates the power of collaborative efforts and strategic planning in enacting meaningful and sustainable improvements in education.
A Template for Change in Higher Ed—The Prosci ADKAR Model
The Prosci ADKAR® Model is an example of a change theory in action. It provides a structured framework for implementing change, focusing on the people involved, how they experience the change process, and the preconditions necessary for successful long-term change. Prosci ADKAR Model focuses on five key stages: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.
Prosci ADKAR Model
ADKAR offers a flexible, adaptable approach change leaders can use to support people through unique changes within their unique institutions. For example, a college might apply the Prosci ADKAR Model to navigate resistance to change surrounding the rollout of a new eLearning program. This would include:
Raising awareness among faculty about the need for eLearning to enable students and themselves to succeed in a digital future
Fostering a desire for change by engaging with resistance and establishing a dialogue around solutions
Providing the necessary training and resources to help faculty understand how to use the new program
Enabling faculty and staff to demonstrate their ability to use the eLearning program in their courses
Ensuring that there are mechanisms within the department to reinforce and sustain the new practices
Considering D2L’s assertion that nearly three-quarters of universities and colleges struggle with resistance during major transitions, the Prosci ADKAR Model is an excellent application of change theory for higher education, especially as part of an organizational approach to managing change like the Prosci Methodology.
Now, let’s look at how Prosci has helped some of the largest institutions in the country drive change.
How Prosci Enacts Change in Higher Education
As a recognized leader in change management solutions, Prosci has a track record of facilitating impactful change in higher education. Its research-based methodology, models and tools are built on decades of experience mastering the people side of change. The Prosci Methodology and training programs help organizations successfully adopt change and reap the intended benefits. The case studies below showcase the application of Prosci change theory across education:
University of Virginia (UVA)
As an institution with over 200 years of tradition and process, the University of Virginia (UVA) struggled with change fatigue and projects needing to meet outcomes. As a result, UVA embarked on an Organizational Excellence program and partnered with Prosci to enhance its capacity for change.
Prosci training programs were utilized to train over 50 UVA staff members, equipping them with the skills to manage change effectively. Key outcomes from the partnership with Prosci included:
A centralized project portfolio framework to ensure alignment across initiatives
A significant increase in project ROI due to enhanced change capabilities
The establishment of a common language for change, fostering better communication and collaboration
Organizational Excellence Program
Five years after the change training program was initiated, UVA had implemented hundreds of improvements while realizing annual savings of over $20 million.
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
UCSD, aiming to embed change management practices throughout the organization, initiated a strategic plan to bring about campus-wide changes. The Prosci Methodology was chosen for its adaptability and effectiveness in large organizations. UCSD’s collaboration with Prosci led to:
Large-group training sessions for awareness and role-specific change management
The creation of various learning opportunities tailored to the needs of the institution
Over 90% of the 500+ staff attendees found the tools and knowledge applicable to their roles
A shared language for change among executives, managers and teams, leading to more people-centric planning and execution
The change initiatives facilitated by Prosci at UCSD were so successful that the University of California administration explored applying the process across the entire network.
Prosci Change Theory in Action for Higher Education
Use Prosci-proven strategies to drive change efficiently in a university, college or other academic environment. Our empirically tested 3-Phase Process and the Prosci ADKAR Model help executives and change managers turn theory into action, with attention to the specifics of your educational context. Whether you need to improve student outcomes or implement a new ERP, Prosci helps meet your institutional goals.
To see change theory in education come to life, visit our change management in higher education page, where you will learn how the Prosci Methodology and change theory help leading institutions nationwide.
Evelyn Williams
Evelyn Williams is a skilled enterprise change leader with over 18 years of project management experience. Responsible for driving complex, multi-year transformations across the financial services, education and aerospace industries, she combines best practices in organizational development, project management and change management to create an impactful change readiness toolkit. Evelyn is a seasoned facilitator and coach who has led training for diverse teams globally. In addition to being a certified Project Management Professional, she holds a master’s degree in organizational development, an MBA, and a certificate in Brain-Based Coaching.
What happens if you install a new LMS that students and faculty refuse to adopt and use? What if employees in finance develop a manual workaround for the new multi-million-dollar ERP system? What if you implement new course scheduling systems and not all units participate? Any significant, high-risk change that depends on people adopting and using it needs effective change management to be successful. Because institutions don’t change—people do. Critical Changes to Manage in Higher Ed Today According to a recent Educause poll on adapting to change and disruption, 69% of respondents in higher education said their institution continued to experience a great deal or some change and disruption. Disruptions range from staffing challenges and flexible work arrangements to outdated technologies and falling enrollments. Although implementing any change comes with unique challenges, projects that have the most significant impacts on the way people do their daily work pose particular risks to the institution’s investments. This is because the success of these changes depends upon people adopting and using new ways of working. And because changes in higher education often impact the day-to-day actions of thousands of staff, faculty, students and stakeholders, the risk of these projects failing outright can’t be understated. Although any change can pose challenges to people, these six challenges are particularly complex and dependent on adoption to succeed: Process changes are common in higher education today, especially with IT systems changes. Some are very large in size and scope, such as installing a customer relationship management (CRM) system or transitioning to a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system across multiple colleges or departments, or entire university system. Other process changes are smaller, like integration of tools and resources, or an academic technology that is specific to one college. Regardless, process changes impact many aspects of a person’s job—from job roles and responsibilities to workflows and tools. Data governance in higher education is critical. Do we have the same language? Do we have shared definitions? Are we storing data in a consistent manner? Who owns the data? Who can access the data? Who can generate reports versus react to reports? The data governance component is another big part of the complexity of managing changes in higher education, and data governance drives additional process changes to manage, impacting systems, tools, job roles, mindsets, and more. Regulatory changes affect institutions far more broadly than it seems. For example, a regulatory change from the US Department of Education on third-party partnerships impacts the outsourcing of different operations to support and deliver services and programs. Changes in financial aid application process—the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) that every student fills out every year—impact the ways institutions must collect, store and manage personal information and tax data from students and parents. Regional, state, and programmatic accreditation requirements drive changes broadly across the institution and within specific programs. Institutions need to understand and address all these ripples and plan carefully to ensure that people are equipped to perform their jobs the day the regulatory changes go into effect. Failure leads to costly rework, incorrect reimbursements, and the loss of students who depend on timely financial aid. Technology impacts nearly every area of higher education. Institutions leveraging outdated or homegrown IT infrastructures and systems experience challenges, which inhibit their ability to scale. Those without online offerings before the pandemic found quick ways to add online offerings by building or buying tools to host them—and now the systems and processes to be formalized. And accessibility issues need to be addressed in face-to-face and virtual delivery. Overall, institutions need to find balance between using SaaS integrated IT services, third-party provided services, and homegrown efforts. These decisions provide many choices, and drive changes to people’s jobs and reporting structures, systems and processes, tools, critical behaviors, and work locations. Course planning includes changes that enable coursework and degree completion, such as updates to registration systems and creating student pathways to graduation. Design and delivery of instructional content also involves changes like enabling virtual lab work or installing a learning management system (LMS) to house curricular assets and facilitate asynchronous student conversations. In addition to impacts on systems and processes, changes to course planning have huge impacts on mindsets and beliefs. People need functional training, as well as support throughout the transition, to ensure that they have the skills and mindset needed to bring the change to life and then sustain it without developing workarounds. Data and cybersecurity issues drive ongoing cross-functional changes. Declining enrollments and the need to offer online programs is accelerating changes that keep institutions relevant, attract students, and maintain market share. Leveraging data-driven insights enables institutions to make better business decisions, such as identifying programs with the potential for high return on investment (ROI), understanding marketing conversion rates, or simply understanding what activities no longer align with the institution’s vision. Cybersecurity also generates ongoing, top-priority changes to protect institutions. And because cybersecurity is everybody’s job today, it can’t be relegated to the IT department. We really need to help people change behaviors and adopt new tools to be successful. Why Higher Ed Needs Change Management Change management is far more than sending a few communications about the changes and offering functional training on the new tool or process. Change management is an enabling framework for managing the people side of change. It’s the discipline that guides how you prepare, equip and support people who are impacted by these important changes to their daily work. The benefits of applying change management in higher ed institutions include: Preventing and mitigating resistance to change from faculty, staff, students and other stakeholders Improving engagement, mitigating negativity and turnover, and enhancing the working experience at your institution Delivering the people-dependent portion of ROI on your must-win projects and initiatives Mitigating costs and risks from project rework and failure Minimizing change saturation and fatigue, and avoiding project collisions within your portfolio of changes Prosci ‘s 25 years of research on the Best Practices in Change Management represents the largest body of knowledge in the change management discipline. This research shows that projects with effective change management are 7X more likely to meet or achieve objectives than projects with poor change management. Even fair change management correlates with achieving a 3X likelihood of success. In addition to meeting objectives, our research shows that projects with effective change management correlate with being 5X more likely to stay on schedule and 1.5X more likely to stay within budget. Actions to Start Addressing Critical Changes in Higher Ed The fact that institutions must juggle different types of changes with cross-functional overlap and limited resources adds to the complexity of managing change in higher education and requires more focus on managing the overall portfolio or program of changes to get it right. Our research consistently shows that having a structured approach to change management is a top contributor to success with change because it enables you to implement multiple changes and scale efficiently while speaking a common language across the institution. Your institution can start managing important changes more effectively by taking the following steps: Work with institutional leaders to get support and commitment for change management Our research shows that change management expertise lives in many functional areas of institutions, and most commonly in IT, HR, the project management office, and strategic planning office. If you already have change management professionals applying change management on projects in your organization, enlist them to help you present a case to leaders for why change management can benefit your project or initiative and the larger institution by sharing its benefits, how it works, success stories, and its ROI. Intentionally build change management capabilities in your teams Building your institution’s change capabilities enables you to handle more change, faster and more cost-effectively. Every institution is unique. You might start by selecting key members of your team to go through to change management training. If you need to scale and mature quickly in change management, our Change Advisors can help you develop a holistic approach to building capabilities with training, hands-on deployment support, change management consulting, licensing, and other guidance. Equip people to perform their unique roles during change Change management practitioners are equipped to lead your overall change management strategy and planning, but they can’t do it alone. Active and visible sponsorship is the number one success factor in every Best Practices in Change Management research study. Sponsors need coaching to understand what to do, when to do it, and how. People managers are so essential, they play five key roles during change, and they need to develop the right skills. You can support them with coaching, holding meetings to practice new skills, or by hosting a community of practice to share best practices and insights. Learn More About Change Management in Higher Ed Higher education institutions face a wide range of disruptive changes, and change management is essential for managing the people side impacts. By acting today, you can start developing the skillset your people need to lead your institution into this new era of education—one that is steeped in innovation and resilience.
One of the most common pitfalls when institutionalizing enterprise change management (ECM) is failing to manage the effort as a project and a change. To do that, an important mindset shift must occur. You have to move out of the mindset of simply doing more change management (whether that means more application or more training) to a mindset of deploying change management and building organizational capabilities. Countless organizations continue to do more and more change management, and their projects and initiatives are more successful because of it. But they never hit the seminal moment of deciding to take the next step toward institutionalizing change management. When you begin treating and managing the effort to institutionalize change management as a project and a change, you have embarked on what we call "Project ECM." We use this term to reinforce that this is an effort that must be managed like a project. Taking Project ECM From Current State to Future State Like any other project, there is a current state or how things are done today. Like any other project, there is a future state or how things will be done after implementation. And like any other project, there is a technical side and a people side to the transition state between the current and future states. This simple but universal model of change is applicable to a variety of organizational efforts, but here we are applying it to one particular effort: institutionalizing change management. In addition to thinking about Project ECM as a change using the states-of-change framework, you will also need to use the tools available for making any project successful, including change management and project management. You will need to: Design a solution Secure effective sponsorship Create a schedule and budget Complete organizational and individual change management plans Treating the effort to institutionalize change management like an initiative increases the likelihood that you will be successful and adds credibility to the work you are doing. The content below addresses the current, transition and future states for Project ECM with descriptions and examples. If this is a direction your organization is moving, Prosci's ECM Boot Camp is designed for you. In the one-day workshop you gain additional tools based on research findings for creating your Project ECM strategies and plans. Current State of Project ECM The current state of Project ECM is how change management is currently done in your organization: What percentage of projects are applying change management? Is there a standard change management approach or are there numerous approaches throughout the organization? Are tools available for all levels in the organization? Who has been trained in change management? Prosci's Change Management Maturity Model and Change Management Maturity Model Audit enable you to determine your organization’s current maturity across five change management capability areas: Leadership Application Competencies Standardization Socialization A second aspect of the current state is understanding factors about the environment where you are trying to institutionalize change management. This includes assessment and evaluation of how change occurs in the organization, including the initiation and governance processes in place. Through research and experience, Prosci has also identified a number of factors that can act as assets in the effort to deploy change management or risks that must be mitigated. Evaluating each of these factors builds out your understanding of the environment for Project ECM. Future State of Project ECM The future state of Project ECM is what your organization will look like and how it will operate after you have built change management capabilities and competencies. This is when change management becomes the norm: Applying change management on projects and initiatives is the expectation, not the exception Executives and project teams assume that resources, tools and processes addressing the people side of change are present on all projects Employees throughout the organization have built their own personal competencies at leading change, from wherever they are in the organization Failing to define a future state and establish the targets of what you are trying to achieve when you take on Project ECM is a major pitfall for many organizations that are beginning the journey to Enterprise Change Management. They make progress in applying change management more regularly, or they train a number of employees in change management, or they even work to integrate change management and project management, but they never step back to define what they are trying to achieve. Defining the future state includes creating a vision statement, establishing objectives, identifying the artifacts that will be present after the main push of the deployment effort, and creating metrics and indicators that will let you know if you reached the future state for Project ECM. Transition State of Project ECM The transition state for Project ECM involves moving from the status of change management today in the organization to a point where change management is embedded and ingrained in how the organization operates. The transition is where you change how changes are managed in the organization by making change management a part of every initiative. The Technical Side The transition state has a technical side, just like other initiatives, which is the implementation of solutions and mechanisms for institutionalizing change management. The Prosci ECM Strategy Map defines five areas where tactics are needed to advance change management at the enterprise level: Leadership tactics Project tactics Skill tactics Structure tactics Process tactics An effective solution for the technical side of the transition state requires a balanced approach both in terms of these five tactical areas and in terms of timing (short-term, medium-term and long-term tactics). The People Side The transition state also has a people-side component where you build buy-in, support and commitment for change management. You must also fulfill the specific roles in change management: Senior leaders become great sponsors of change People managers become great coaches to their direct reports Project managers address the people side of their project from the onset The people side of the transition state is based on the fact that change management takes change management. A fully implemented technical solution that no one supports will not deliver results and outcomes. What This Means for You Becoming great at change does not happen by chance. It takes an intentional and concerted effort to build change management competencies and practices throughout the organization. However, given the ever changing world in which we live and the increasing velocity of change we expect, no other capability will be more important going forward. With structure and intent, your organization can build change management capability and enable organizational agility. "The winners of the future will be those who can out-change the competition, customer demands, and the market." - Tim Creasey, Chief Innovation Officer, Prosci
Five years after the change training program was initiated, UVA had implemented hundreds of improvements while realizing annual savings of over $20 million.
