opportunity is an idea, success is a project by: dr. john ... · opportunity is an idea, success is...

2018

Opportunity Is an Idea, Success Is a Project

By: Dr. John Donohue

1201 S. Alma School Rd, Suite 9500, Mesa, AZ 85210www.synergiseducation.com

Copyright ©2018

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Copyright 2018 by Synergis Education, Inc.

Opportunity Is an Idea, Success Is a Project

Discussions with higher education leaders across the nation are always informative. They provide real-

time insights into concerns, reveal operational dynamics, and constantly challenge me to find techniques

to craft my messages in ways that are both accessible and embraceable. While all parties are uniformly

excited about new program opportunities, the implications for operationalizing these initiatives are often

challenging.

For the majority of private colleges and universities in the United States, a significant

topic of conversation is program expansion. And not simply expansion for the sake of

disciplinary diversity, but rather an expansion that

serves some highly pragmatic purposes. Institutions

want to grow enrollments and do so in ways that create

a significant return on investment.

This reflects the financial dynamics in which

many private colleges find themselves. If they are like

many of their peers, they have endowments inadequate to their needs, are watching their

tuition discount rates climb, and are finding the market for students to be increasingly

competitive.

Private institutions are typically organized along a model that mimics highly selective

and resource-rich universities. This model is organized along principles that stress the life of the

mind, the centrality of research and teaching (with various proportions of emphasis), and an

educational delivery system predicated on the outdated assumption that most students are

between 18 and 22 and will attend as full-time residents. It is also assumed that endowment

resources can be used to support this organizational model. The pace, process, and structure of

these institutions are dictated by these assumptions. And yet, for all but elite universities, the

Institutions want to grow

enrollments and do so in ways that

create a significant return on

investment. This reflects the

financial dynamics in which many

private colleges find themselves.

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assumptions are wrong: 54 percent of private institutions have endowments of less than $10

million. The median endowment at private colleges and universities is roughly $7.9 million.i

College students are also increasingly nontraditional in their characteristics and, in fact,

make up most students in higher education today.ii Despite this fact, the organizational

dynamics of many colleges keep them focused on a shrinking pool of more “traditional”

students. And when demand is high but supply is low, costs rise: “private colleges and

universities discounted tuition for the 2016-17 academic year at higher rates than in previous

years and continued their decade-long attempts to recruit and retain freshmen at a time of

declining enrollment and increased competition for students.”iii

Thus, institutional leaders are faced with the

stark realities of higher education today. They may not

be able to change the traditionalist mindset of their

institutions, but they may be able to exploit

opportunities in selective areas where there is some

flexibility to modify operational principles. This is

important, because, as a recent article in Forbes

outlines,iv colleges and universities have deeply

bureaucratic operating structures. The systems and operational dynamics in many institutions

are poorly adapted to market demands that are increasingly non-traditional. Success often

means doing things differently. We can talk about “skunkworks”v in the classic sense of a group

working with great autonomy largely outside a bureaucracy, but for educational settings, I

prefer using the phrase “targeted innovation.” I do so for two reasons. On the one hand, many

academics are familiar with Clay Christensen’s work on disruptive innovation in industries

(including education).vi On the other hand, higher education is a deeply traditionalistic

environment and disruption is frowned on. Therefore, I emphasize tightly focused areas of

initiative that do not threaten the status quo, but are also freed to operate in different ways.

I increasingly find academic leadership interested in the possibility of engaging in

targeted innovation. They are excited by the possibility of attracting more students to their

… institutional leaders are faced

with the stark realities of higher

education today. They may not be

able to change the traditionalist

mindset of their institutions, but

they may be able to exploit

opportunities in selective areas

where there is some flexibility to

modify operational principles.

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institutions, providing them with degrees that will lead to meaningful lives and careers, and

will do so in a way that provides a return on investment. The idea is deeply attractive.

Working through the details, however, sometimes comes as a letdown.

In my experience, what often disappoints people is the complexity of making the idea a

reality (in this, they seem to reflect the national mood, where an explanation of “it’s

complicated” is not particularly valued). My expertise, and those of my colleagues, is in the

operational side of bringing the targeted innovation to reality. We know from experience that

there is a wealth of detail needed to adequately undergird an initiative (at Synergis, we have a

standard operational plan that lists over 600

interdependent tasks). The bar for execution is high

and the marketplace is competitive, which means you

only get the chance to do it right once.

Discussing the need to develop adequate

clinical placements for an allied health degree and do

so at scale is something that often makes academics

grow deeply concerned. It looks like a great deal of work. And it is. Moreover, they typically

approach work from a semester model and often assume administrative tasks as part of their

teaching load. From this perspective, they don’t see how to achieve the objective in the amount

of time they can devote to it.

And they’re right. But also, wrong. In this example, the need to coordinate clinical

placements is paramount. And it can’t be done well on a part-time basis. What is required is a

full-time position devoted completely to this task. It operates, in best skunkworks fashion,

outside the normal bureaucracy.

We sometimes are asked by prospective partners whether we find that college

employees involved in student recruitment migrate over to our organization. They are

concerned at losing their people to Synergis. Our answer is that this happens rarely, but mostly

never. And the reason is that the culture of the college and the culture of an OPM like Synergis

are vastly different. Administrative and staff positions at colleges, while they mimic hourly and

salaried work schedules, are still tied to the dominant model of the academy—the semester and

There is a wealth of detail needed

to adequately undergird an

initiative. The bar for execution is

high and the marketplace is

competitive, which means you only

get the chance to do it right once.

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faculty loads. As a result, the college work environment is more leisurely than a corporate

environment. As Dr. Ray Stanz once explained, there is a difference between the work culture of

the academy and the private sector.vii

So, when institutions commit to targeted innovation, their greatest challenges are not

those of imagination. College and university campuses are filled with intelligent and creative

people. What they are typically unprepared for is the work required to take an idea’s concept to

reality:

• think through the details;

• commit to a comprehensive redesign of services;

• focus on student needs and market demands;

• embrace digital approaches to attracting and engaging prospective students; and

• be efficient, be effective and be relevant.

In all these areas, leaders in the academy should be open to the idea that there is

expertise outside their purview and a culture of operationalization that can be put to use in the

service of their institutional mission. This may require creating a skunkworks, if possible. For

many organizations, however, a more direct solution is to find a third-party provider who can

do it for them.

The Author

John J. Donohue, Ph.D. is a higher educational professional with thirty years’ experience in

higher education teaching, administration and leadership. He has served as tenured professor,

dean, vice president, provost and acting president. He is an expert on curricular design and

program development and currently serves as Chief Academic and Development Officer for

Synergis Education.

i American Council on Education. 2014. Understanding College and University Endowments.

Washington DC: American Council on Education. Retrieved from http://www.acenet.edu/news-

room/Documents/Understanding-Endowments-White-Paper.pdf

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ii Lindsey Reichlin Cruse, Lindsey, Eleanor Eckerson, and Barbara Gaul. 2018. Understanding the

New College Majority: The Demographic and Financial Characteristics of Independent Students and

their Postsecondary Outcomes. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Feb. 20, 2018.

https://iwpr.org/publications/independent-students-new-college-majority/ iii Valburn, Marjorie, 2018. Tuition Conundrum. Inside Higher Ed. April 30, 2018.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/30/nacubo-report-finds-tuition-discounting-again iv Schifrin, Matt. 2017. 2017 College Financial Grades: How Fit Is Your School?

Forbes. AUG 2, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2017/08/02/2017-college-

financial-grades-how-fit-is-your-school/#3ece34757d68

v Like many innovations in higher education, this grew out of training needs in World War II. See

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks/skunk-

works-origin-story.html

vi Arnett, Thomas. 2014. Why disruptive innovation matters to education. Christensen Institute. Jan. 6,

2014. https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/why-disruptive-innovation-matters-to-education/

vii See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjzC1Dgh17A

https://iwpr.org/people/barbara-gault-ph-d/