Walden University was founded in 1970 by Bernie and Rita Turner, both teachers, and Harold Hodgkinson to provide an alternative path to a doctorate for working professionals. Walden's mission is to transform career professionals into scholar-practitioners who can create positive social change. Recently, Walden underwent changes to its undergraduate program and employee performance reviews to refocus on being more student-centered in response to government hearings. Leadership effectively guided this change process by stressing the reasons for change, supporting employees through incentives and communication, and making adjustments to improve the transition. However, leaders could have better prepared employees initially for students' new expectations. Overall, the changes successfully shifted Walden's culture back to its founding mission while facing minimal resistance

1. Organization Through the Change Process
Janice Horoschak
Dr. April Adams
EDUC-6105 Organizations, Innovation, and Change
4/12/12

2. Walden’s History
 Founded by Bernie and Rita Turner
 Both teachers who considered providing an alternative method
to give working professionals a way to pursue their Doctorate
degree.
 Harold “Bud” Hodgkinson
 A faculty member at University of California, Berkley who
published a paper one year earlier “Walden U.: A Working
Paper” to institute a student-centered university.
 Bernie and Rita teamed up with Harold
and Walden University was
born in 1970.

3. Walden’s Mission Statement & Vision
 Mission Statement:
 “Walden University provides a diverse community of career
professionals with the opportunity to transform themselves as scholar-
practioners so that they can effect positive social change.”
 Vision:
 “Walden University envisions a distinctively different 21st-century
learning community where knowledge is judged worthy to the degree
that it can be applied by its graduates to the immediate solutions of
critical societal challenges, thereby advancing the greater global good.”

4. Walden’s Structure & Culture
 Academic
 Administrative
 During the student life cycle, collaboration and
communication between the structural units exhibit true
culture to create a seamless student-centered experience.
Student-Centered Experience

5. Walden Reason for Change
 Congress hearings about for-profit universities
initiated Walden’s thought process for change.
 Walden wanted to be proactive and revisit the
“student-centered” experience that Walden was
founded upon.
 Walden’s goal was to became an organization more
about education and student success and less
about sales and profit.

6. Walden Change
 Undergraduate Initiative:
 Students must maintain a grade “D” or above by the 14th day of
class or they will be administratively withdrawn, not held
financially responsible for classes, and would not be considered
a student for the Enrollment Advisor.
 Enrollment Performance Matrix Restructure:
 Enrollment Advisors are no longer evaluated within their
performance review on the number of students
that they enroll.
Which led to…

7. Walden Actions by Leadership
 Undergraduate Initiative:
 Before: Leadership informed Enrollment Advisors of the guidelines of the
initiative but, did not prepare them or how to prepare their students for what to
expect.
 During: As start dates continued, leadership collaborated with the
academic end of Walden to educate Enrollment about the instructor and
curriculum expectations of the first two weeks of classes.
 After: Leadership continues to strive for maximum student retention by
enforcing Enrollment to have a consistent, personable interaction with students,
leading to success with the student-centered approach .

8. Walden Actions by Leadership
 Enrollment Performance Matrix Restructure:
 Before: Leadership prepared Enrollment Advisors months in advance, informing
Enrollment that students would no longer be a part of the matrix during the review
process and raises would be dramatically lower than in years past.
 During: Leadership stressed that raises were now based upon the budget that the
department and consistent with all other employees working for Walden University/
Laureate Inc.
 After: Leadership compensated Enrollment Advisors for the unfavorable change in
personal resource rewards and compensated for an increase in status rewards by offering
more team and non-monetary incentives like meals, jeans days, and award ceremonies to
show recognition.

9. Walden Resistance to Change
 Some Enrollment Advisors left company because
they did not share Walden’s values.
 Enrollment Advisors were dissatisfied with lower
percentage raises.
 Students and Enrollment Advisors had fear and
stress because expectations were not presented.
 Enrollment Advisors were concerned for the high
percentage of student losses.

10. Walden Overcoming Resistance
 Leaders stress importance of the Undergraduate
Initiative and use “Cheerleading” tactics with
Enrollment Advisors.
 Reiterating reason for change; the student-
centered experience.
 Leaders reflect on key founding values continuing
with the “institutionalization” of the change.

11. Walden Effectiveness to Change
 Leaders wore many Hats during the change process to
meet Enrollment Advisors needs through the change to
make their transition easier with least resistance.
 Leaders constantly reiterated change process so
Enrollment Advisors “institutionalize” the change to
make it part of the normal process.
 Leaders emphasized why change was important,
the student-centered experience.
 Leaders let Enrollment Advisors know how important
they were to the success of the change verbally and
other employee appreciation incentives were given.

12. Walden Ineffectiveness to Change
 Leaders didn’t prepare Enrollment
Advisors early enough in the process for the
specific issues and processes they would
need to assist students to be successful.
 Leaders could have collaborated closely
with the academic side of Walden to give us
a perspective of the classroom so we knew
what expectation to set with our student.

13. Walden Conclusion to Change
 Change process of the Undergraduate Initiative
and Enrollment Performance Matrix Restructure
had an overall success and resistance was minimal.
 Leaders and change agents were effective the in
overall delivery, implementation, and retaining the
change.
 Leaders fine-tuned changes in the process that
benefited students and Enrollment Advisors to
make the change process a smoother transition.

14. References:
 Beach, L. R. (2006). Leadership and the art of change: A practical guide to
organizational transformation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
 Bligh, Michelle Dr. Video “Examining Organizations”. Lecture presented for Walden
University M. S. in Instructional Design and Technology program, Class:
Organizations, Innovations, and Change.
 Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Donaldson, A., Samldino, S., Rossetti, A., & Wagner, E., The Many Hats of Leaders n.d
[video webcast].
Retrieved from
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493341&Survey=1&4
7=11863141&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
 Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Examining Organizations [Video
webcast].
Retrived from
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493341&Survey
=1&47=11863141&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

15. References Continued:
 Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Leadership in organizations [Video
webcast].
Retrieved from
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493341&Survey=1&4
7=11205563&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
 Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Resistance to Change [Video webcast].
Retrieved from
http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493341&Survey=1&4
7=11205563&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=&bhcp=1
 Walden’s History. Retrieved on March 25, 2012, from
http://www.waldenu.edu/About-Us/18861.htm
 Walden’s Mission and Vision. Retrieved on March 25, 2012, from
http://www.waldenu.edu/About-Us.htm