Change Management in Higher Education, With Chris Mayer

Summary: In this episode of the Change Management Review™ “From the Field” Series, Managing Editor Brian Gorman interviews Chris Mayer, a career Army officer who is serving as associate dean for strategy, policy, and assessment, and associate professor of philosophy at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Chris has led, been part of, or observed efforts to enact change designed to improve military and higher education organizations. He also currently serves as a Teagle Assessment Scholar at the Center of Inquiry and an evaluator and workshop leader for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In this brief, information-rich interview, Chris focuses on challenges and opportunities facing higher education, and how colleges, universities, and other organizations can develop the capacity to thrive in today’s rapidly changing and challenging environment. Questions Asked: What are some of the challenges and opportunities facing higher education? You have cited Sweet Briar College as an example of a college impacted by these challenges that has developed a wide-ranging, ambitious, and innovative change agenda. Why? What are they doing? What lessons related to change management can be learned from Sweet Briar College? How can colleges, universities, and other organizations develop the capacity to thrive in today’s rapidly changing and challenging environment?