Expanding Organizational Change Teams: Insights from the STEM Transfer Partnership. Data Note 7. STEM Transfer Partnership Series
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| Title: | Expanding Organizational Change Teams: Insights from the STEM Transfer Partnership. Data Note 7. STEM Transfer Partnership Series |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Susannah C. Davis, Lia Wetzstein, University of Washington, Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) |
| Source: | Community College Research Initiatives. 2026. |
| Availability: | Community College Research Initiatives. University of Washington, 4333 Brooklyn Avenue NE, UW Tower, T-12, Box 359447, Seattle, WA 98195. Tel: 206-616-0722; e-mail: ccri@uw.edu; Web site: https://www.washington.edu/ccri/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 7 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Ascendium Education Group, Inc. |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education Two Year Colleges |
| Descriptors: | Organizational Change, Communities of Practice, STEM Education, College Transfer Students, Partnerships in Education, Two Year Colleges, Colleges, Teamwork |
| Geographic Terms: | Washington |
| Abstract: | Expanding organizational change initiatives in higher education, particularly across institutions, is widely recognized as both essential and challenging. Research on scaling change highlights that change efforts often struggle to move beyond small pilot teams and engage broader and more diverse groups of participants (Kezar, 2021). As initiatives grow, they must contend with increasing complexity, including differing institutional cultures, uneven capacity, competing incentives, and the difficulty of maintaining shared purpose while adding new people and organizational units (Kezar, 2021). This data note examines how 19 institutions participating in the STEM Transfer Partnerships (STP) Community of Practice (CoP) navigated the early stages of expanding their organizational change initiatives and teams. In cross-institutional transfer partnerships like those in the STP CoP, the challenges of increased complexity are especially pronounced as teams work simultaneously to strengthen relationships, integrate new disciplines and institutions, and alter longstanding organizational practices that shape students' transfer experiences. This data note draws on data from four surveys collected during the early stages of STP 2.0 to examine how teams within the approximately 160-member CoP experienced this expansion, highlighting the strengths, challenges, and promising practices that emerged as teams worked to grow their membership and deepen their change efforts. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED679463 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Expanding organizational change initiatives in higher education, particularly across institutions, is widely recognized as both essential and challenging. Research on scaling change highlights that change efforts often struggle to move beyond small pilot teams and engage broader and more diverse groups of participants (Kezar, 2021). As initiatives grow, they must contend with increasing complexity, including differing institutional cultures, uneven capacity, competing incentives, and the difficulty of maintaining shared purpose while adding new people and organizational units (Kezar, 2021). This data note examines how 19 institutions participating in the STEM Transfer Partnerships (STP) Community of Practice (CoP) navigated the early stages of expanding their organizational change initiatives and teams. In cross-institutional transfer partnerships like those in the STP CoP, the challenges of increased complexity are especially pronounced as teams work simultaneously to strengthen relationships, integrate new disciplines and institutions, and alter longstanding organizational practices that shape students' transfer experiences. This data note draws on data from four surveys collected during the early stages of STP 2.0 to examine how teams within the approximately 160-member CoP experienced this expansion, highlighting the strengths, challenges, and promising practices that emerged as teams worked to grow their membership and deepen their change efforts. |
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