Driving Change and Co-Creation in Higher Education

Friday SLO Talk: Janet De Wilde, Emily Salines, and Stephanie Fuller of Queen Mary University of London. The presentation explores the challenges and opportunities of driving change in large, legacy institutions, particularly in the context of evolving student needs, economic pressures, and technological advancements.

Co-creation as a Mechanism for Change: The speakers advocate for co-creation as a collaborative approach to implementing change, involving students, staff, and various stakeholders in the process.
Leadership, Scholarship, and Recognition: The presentation highlights the importance of effective leadership, scholarship, and recognition systems to support change initiatives and empower individuals within the institution.

Driving Forces for Change:

New Regulations and Socioeconomic Pressures: Universities face increasingly specific and challenging regulations in the UK, coupled with socioeconomic pressures impacting the sector, institutions, and students alike.
Diverse Student Needs and Employability: The need to address the diverse requirements of growing student cohorts and the emphasis on employability drive efforts to meet skills gaps and prepare students for the workforce.

Challenges to Change:

Legacy Systems and Resistance: "People like and feel reassured and comfortable. And and that's our challenge... we need a shared understanding of the need for change."
Inconsistent Understanding and Practice: "We had inconsistency of practice, and we had inconsistency of educational change. So that was our challenge is, you know, it's very spread out. And it's very different understandings."

Strategies for Implementing Change:

Alignment and Career Pathways: Establishing alignment between the strategy, institutional frameworks, and career pathways was crucial for effective implementation.
Role-Based Leadership Programs: Specific educational leadership programs focused on role-based leadership, such as empowering module organizers to lead effectively.
Focus on Scholarship and Evidence-Informed Practice: Significant investment in leadership and training helped staff develop evidence-based approaches to evaluating and implementing changes in their practices.
Utilizing Co-Creation: Co-creation was embraced as a key mechanism to drive change and ensure widespread engagement and collaboration.

Co-Creation in Practice:

Shared Understanding and Distributed Leadership: The 2030 strategy faced challenges because many assumed it was solely the university's responsibility. To succeed, individuals needed to understand their accountability and feel empowered to act with agency.

Importance of Trust and Recognition: Trust develops through effective frameworks, rewards, and recognition, which foster a sense of reliability and collaboration.

Student Involvement and Recognition: Students played a key role in co-creating the University's graduate attributes, leading to the creation of the Seed Award to honor student-enhanced engagement.

Key Quotes:

"Strategy can drive change. But the whole thing needs scaffolding so that Staff can engage. We can't just have a strategy."
"Co-creation at Queen Mary is central to our strategy. We will deliver outstanding inclusive world class education co-created with our diverse student body."

Queen Mary University: Driving change through leadership development and co-creation