1. ^aAmerican Council on Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
   E-mail: Peter_Eckel@ace.nche.edu, www.acenet.edu
2. ^bUniversity of Maryland, College Park, USA

Abstract

Transformational change forces institutions to adopt new conceptual frameworks, beliefs and meanings. This study investigates the strategies used to bring about institutional change that likely leads to new organizational sense-making. Through a qualitative investigation at six US colleges and universities, it identified key strategies that led to the adoption of new mental models, including ongoing conversations, processes to develop a set of concrete concepts, the use of cross-departmental working groups, public presentations, faculty and staff development opportunities, and the involvement of outsiders.