Milestone 2

HEA 630 Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric: Institutional Context and Change Institutional context, including among other things, the mission, vision, culture, and values embraced and encouraged among all of the institution’s constituents, plays a significant role in when, how, why, and if change happens or does not happen within colleges and universities. As a higher education administrator, understanding the significance and importance of your institution’s context will help you appreciate how it influences your reaction to change and your ability to initiate change. Reflect on previous changes you have experienced as a college student, parent of a college student, or higher education administrator. At that time, did you have an appreciation for the institution’s context and its influence on the change? What obstacles did you notice, if any? For this milestone, consider the changes you have experienced with a refreshed view of how the institution’s context influences outcomes to guide your perceptions of the changes taking place in your case study. Prompt: In Module Three, you will continue to provide support for the change effort by considering why institutional context is influential to change and by investigating how the institutional context of your case connects with the change process. You will consider the reasons why it is necessary for leaders in higher education administration to acknowledge the influence of institutional context for successful implementation of change. As you do so, use your selected case to explain how the institutional context can create an obstacle to change; assess whether an institution can successfully change without fully understanding its institutional context; assess whether this institution’s context will be an obstacle to the change and explain why or why not. This milestone submission addresses critical element III, section A (vision and mission) of the final project, and it serves as an initial draft for this element. Substantial instructor feedback will be provided for foundational support of the final project. As you consider the case study you selected and work through course content, identify ways to build on this milestone submission to expand your analysis, assessment, and application of these pieces of the project for your final submission in Module Nine. As you work on your milestone submission, it is important to note that not every critical element of the final project will be addressed by your milestone submission. When preparing your milestone and final project submissions, be sure to support your work with supplemental information and additional resources beyond the required resources and readings. The following critical elements must be addressed in your paper:

 Mission and Vision: Explain how the institution’s vision and mission can create an obstacle to change. In general, can an institution change without being informed by its vision and mission? Can the institution’s vision and mission be drivers for change?

 Ability to Change: Assess the institution’s ability to change. Reflect on how the mission and vision were previously detailed in Milestone One, consider the change initiative being undertaken, and predict specific reasons why the change agent may face obstacles or conversely find the process to move forward smoothly.

 Context as an Obstacle: Assess other elements of institutional context as obstacles to change. Examine how the institution’s context could create challenges and opportunities for change. Beyond mission and vision, identify additional contextual institutional elements that may hinder the change process and predict why they pose a challenge for the change agent.

Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted and formatted as per the APA Manual as a two- to three-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three sources cited in APA format. Ensure you have a cover sheet and reference sheet. Cover sheet and reference sheet are additional pages.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Mission and V ision Explains how the institution’s vision and mission can create an obstacle to change

Explains how the institution’s vision and mission can create an obstacle to change but details are either inaccurate or too general

Does not explain how the institution’s vision and mission can create an obstacle to change

20

Ability to Change Describes the institution’s ability to change by identifying specific examples/reasons to support conclusion

Describes the institution’s ability to change but description is cursory, has inaccuracies, or includes little support

Does not describes the institution’s ability to change

30

Context as an Obstacle

Assesses whether the institution’s context beyond mission and vision will be an obstacle for change and provides evidence to support why or why not

Assesses whether the institution’s context will be an obstacle for change but does not provide evidence to support why or why not

Does not assess context as an obstacle 30

Articulation of Response

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

20

Earned Total 100%