PARTNERS IN CHANGE:
HOW FOUR FOUNDATION
COLLEGE MANAGERS
MADE A DIFFERENCE
Darlene Sebalj, Susan Hudson, Jan Ryan & Juliet Wight Boycott
Conference Presentation – 2006 TEM Conference, Sydney Hilton
Partners in Change
DARLENE SEBALJ
PhD Student, University of Newcastle
Former College Manager, College of Science Technology and
Environment,
University of Western Sydney
SUSAN HUDSON
Project Manager, Office of the DVC (Corporate Services)
Former College Manager, College of Arts, Education, & Social Sciences
University of Western Sydney
JAN RYAN
College Manager, College of Business
(Previously known as the College of Law and Business)
University of Western Sydney
Partners in Change
University of Western Sydney
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7th largest University in Australia
35,000 + students
6 teaching campuses – spread across
Greater Western Sydney
1 January 2001 – 3 “member” universities
join to form one unified UWS
3 separate cultures had to merge
Birth of a new organisation
Partners in Change
The Four Colleges:
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Academic structure of 4 “super” Colleges led
administratively by a College Manager
4,500 – 10,000 student enrolments
Contained between 4 and 7 Schools
and 1 and 5 Research Centres
Budgets of between $23M - $50M
Based across 3 to 6 teaching campuses
Consisting of between 45 and 100+
administrative and technical staff
Initial 12.5% admin staff reduction target
Partners in Change
LARGE-SCALE ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE ENVIRONMENT
Loss of
Networks
Competition for
Resources
Lack of Common
Policies &
Procedures
Poor
Communication
with Key College
Stakeholders
NEED FOR AN
ALLIANCE
Positioning
& Power
Struggles
Difficulties in
Achieving Set
Objectives
Environmental
Turbulence &
Uncertainty
Low Staff
Morale
Partners in Change
The alliance amongst College
Managers was founded on:
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A strong work ethic
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Personal and collective integrity
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A commitment to resource efficiency
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A commitment to administrative best practice
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A commitment to the well being of each College and
their staff
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A commitment to the success of the “new” UWS
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A good sense of humour 
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A strong element of TRUST
Partners in Change
Benefits of the Alliance:
• Provided an organisational voice
• Built our organisational profile and strength
• Significantly improved our bargaining and
negotiating power
• Provided a platform from which to lodge
collective strategies and initiatives
Partners in Change
The Alliance – Core Strategies:
Underlying
Values &
Principles
Standardised
Processes &
Practices
Communication
Channels
ALLIANCE
Supportive
Environment
Staff
Engagement
Staff Development
& Empowerment
Partners in Change
Clear and effective communication
in a change state:
• We deal far better with change when we have
information on what is going on
• Honest, forthright communication is essential
• In times of change, people are hungry for
information
Alliance Core Strategy – Develop Communication Channels
Partners in Change
Create ways to communicate:
• Identify areas of disconnect and work on
reconnection by establishing key consultative
groups
• Meet regularly with your staff
• Establish forums
• Identify areas of potential trouble and establish
rapport with all relevant stakeholders
Alliance Core Strategy – Communication Channels
Partners in Change
The value of consultation:
• Creating network
• Ensuring consistency of information
• Dealing swiftly with problems
• Providing a forum for lobbying opportunities
• Providing avenues to avoid pending disasters
• Providing opportunities to bridge the
disconnect
Alliance Core Strategy – Communication Channels
Partners in Change
Staff Engagement
“...the most critical ingredient of any
change effort is leadership and managing
change is fundamentally a people issue…”
(Karp, 2006, p. 4)
People ARE the organisation
Alliance Core Strategy – Staff Engagement
Partners in Change
Engagement in a change state:
• The individual is central to accepting or rejecting change
• It is crucial to articulate the vision and provide rationale
for the change
• Manage interactively – ensure open, 2-way information
flow
• Walk the talk – nothing beats face to face
• Empower your people
• It is important to ask……“What do you think?”
• Cultivate quality relationships
Alliance Core Strategy – Staff Engagement
Partners in Change
Providing a supportive environment:
• Create staff development opportunities
• Create Group opportunities to enable sharing of
stories
• Provide an environment to validate experiences
and allow staff to value their contributions
• Create Individual opportunities to provide an
opportunity for staff to develop and grow in the
new environment
Alliance Core Strategy – Supportive Environment
Partners in Change
How did we pull this together?
• By developing a culture of openness in
a consultative environment
• By creating strong relationships – TEAM
formation
• Respect for each other
• Sharing of ideas
• Recognising the individual
Partners in Change
The Four Change Dimensions:
PERSONAL
.
ORGANISATIONAL
INTERPERSONAL
.
MANAGERIAL
Partners in Change
How we changed:
• Personal - we formed a collaborative alliance based
on non-territoriality, integrity, mutual support and a
common vision.
• Interpersonal - we mirrored our alliance principles to
our staff, strengthened by our communication
strategies. We walked the talk.
• Managerial - we used a participative model as we
developed standardised systems, processes and
common practices. Fostering staff engagement and a
supportive environment.
• Organisational - we optimised each College’s
administrative structure, resource distribution and
alignment of best practice.
Partners in Change
The ALLIANCE formula:
Assess the need for an alliance
Link up with suitable alliance partners
Liaise, connect and build your alliance
Inform each other at all times
Articulate the alliance’s strategy
Network
Communicate your strength in numbers
Enjoy life… celebrate!
Remember to…. have fun !!
PARTNERS IN CHANGE:
HOW FOUR FOUNDATION
COLLEGE MANAGERS
MADE A DIFFERENCE
Darlene Sebalj, Susan Hudson, Jan Ryan & Juliet Wight Boycott
Conference Presentation – 2006 TEM Conference, Sydney Hilton