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Confronting Wicked Issues Through the Implementation of a Business Development Unit
Get PDFUniversities and Faculties in Ontario are faced with wicked issues that are limiting the financial sustainability of the organizations. Wicked issues refer to problems that are not technical in nature, are not easily fixed, offer no single solution, and because of organizational interdependencies often create other problems when unraveled. Such issues introduced in this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) are: decreasing governmental funding, increased competition for students, the emergence of the non-traditional student and geopolitical pressure. The leadership approach to help address these issues is a combination of Boundary Spanning, Adaptive Leadership and Mindfulness. It is the grouping of these three leadership theories that can help this Faculty be more connected and responsive to external forces impacting it. These approaches introduce an optimistic view that organizational improvement is possible, while recognizing that change is often challenging for organizational members. This OIP is concerned with the advancement of business development acumen grounded in High Reliability Principles. It explores innovations such as data informed decision making, contemporary student engagement practices, and technological infrastructure that can help the Faculty remain financially sustainable as well as a place of higher learning. If executed correctly, this approach can contribute significantly to the Faculty’s financial resilience and sustainability
Increasing Support for Victims of Sexual Assault through the Adoption of a Victim-Centered Approach to Police Investigations
Get PDFPolice services across North America have been criticized for their lack of support for victims throughout the investigative process, especially when investigating crimes involving sexual violence. The Problem of Practice addressed in this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) focuses on the lack of victim support throughout sexual assault investigations in a large police service in Canada. Taking a victim-centered approach to sexual assault investigations pushes the police organization to consider victims’ needs and rights ahead of strictly gathering information throughout a sexual assault investigation.
A gap analysis identified two main areas of focus for this (OIP): the need for enhanced training and resources for police officers and the need for increased oversight and accountability mechanisms of those investigating sexual assaults. A plan for implementing a tiered training approach along with easily accessible online materials and resources for police officers aims to increase their knowledge surrounding victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches to supporting victims of sexual assault. A reinvestment of several officers throughout the organization provides a cost-effective approach to ensuring the oversight and accountability measures are in place to conduct appropriate, victim-centered, sexual assault investigations
Towards Intercultural Understanding and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Building an Internationally Minded School
Get PDFAs an International Baccalaureate school in a diverse Canadian city, Welton Academy’s (pseudonym) vision is to be a world-class, academic school with a focus on shaping students into globally minded, engaged citizens. The demographics of the school are changing, as the student body is becoming increasingly more ethnically diverse. Currently, one of the school’s strategic missions is focused on international mindedness. Although the school’s vision to promote international mindedness includes global engagement and multilingualism, the area of intercultural understanding is not identified. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores a Problem of Practice (PoP) that highlights the need to develop intercultural understanding within the high school context. This OIP incorporates transformational leadership and instructional leadership approaches, as key leadership practices for stakeholders, such as the leadership team and teachers, to employ while identifying the potential for promoting social justice and inclusion. With a global focus, the values Welton Academy shares in the school community should reflect the diverse student population. The goal of this OIP is to provide stakeholders with recommendations to develop intercultural understanding within the school. The solutions in this OIP address all three interrelated dimensions of culturally responsive pedagogy: institutional, personal, and instructional. If implemented, this OIP could result in a more inclusive community at Welton Academ
Student Persistence and Success
Get PDFOrganizations of higher education are under increasing pressure to provide and validate student attrition data, particularly for funding sources and accreditation bodies. Simplistic attrition formulas comparing the number of students admitted to a program to the number of students graduating in the traditional program length problematizes both students and the organization. Approaches to student retention in higher education have evolved to focus on increasing student enrolment numbers, and subsequent funding often depends on this information. However, in taking this strategic, neoliberal approach, organizations fail to address the multifactorial nature of student attrition and the supports needed to maximize student success. This organizational improvement plan provides an alternative approach to the complex issue of student attrition by focusing on student persistence using decolonized and strength-based language. This plan calls for culturally congruent education, particularly important to an organization seeking to decolonize in light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (2015) Calls to Action. This organizational improvement plan addresses a gap at a remote Canadian college; namely, the absence of a student and persistence plan and the need to reconnect the organization with its mission of supporting student success. Connective leadership is pivotal to this cultural change, particularly for its relationship focus and shared leadership approach. This leadership style can unite College departments to work collaboratively through professional learning communities, to support student persistence. A detailed monitoring and evaluation plan can yield the necessary data for continuous quality improvement, with the ultimate goal of increasing student success, resulting in potential long-term societal and economic benefit