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Sustainability and Scalability
The challenges of sustainability and scalability emerged as central themes at the Future of Diversity conference last December. How do we move examples of successful innovation from the margins to the center of institutional practice? How do we “scale up” without losing the adaptability and commitment that accounts for the success of local experiments?
These issues have taken on even greater urgency in the emerging economic and political environment. The economic crisis threatens the survival of many promising programs aimed at increasing access and success of under-served communities. Many higher education institutions have undertaken processes of identifying what is core to their mission, and cutting back on everything else. These processes test higher education’s commitments to diversity and capacity for innovation. The economic crisis heightens the importance of connecting diversity to higher education’s public mission and embedding these values into the core of institutional priorities and practices.
Recent events also have profound implications for how innovation will be scaled to the national level. President Obama has told Congress that he wants America to attain the world's highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. The economic stimulus package invests heavily in programs aimed at advancing full participation in higher education by underserved communities. The long-term impact of these expenditures depends upon whether they create the architecture for institutional transformation. We know that adding programs without changing institutional priorities and cultures will produce more limited change. Policy makers and higher education leaders must connect funding to institution’s demonstrated commitments to serving underserved communities and developing environments that enable people from all backgrounds to succeed and thrive.
These themes lie at the heart of the Center’s work. This web site links community members to usable knowledge about new approaches for addressing structural inequality through institutional transformation. Several recent additions to the Groundshift website highlight our efforts to develop the capacity for sustainable institutional transformation:
- A video and brief summary documenting the emerging collaboration between the Duke’s Men of Yale and Elm City College Prep middle, and its potential scalability. This collaboration reflects a theme of the Center: to develop (and, in the process, study) partnerships with differently resourced institutions that build capacity and community on both sides of the relationship.
- A summary of the 5 R’s that come together to build the architecture of inclusion and transformation.
- A presidential forum on April 27-28, convened by the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers (LADO), in collaboration with the Center for Institutional and Social Change. This forum, hosted by Williams College and facilitated by Lani Guinier and Center director Susan Sturm, brought together the presidents, chief academic officers, and chief diversity group of nine liberal arts colleges to discuss: (1) the frameworks or strategies for advancing diversity as a transformational concept and a core value, (2) how to build collaborations and sustain innovation in difficult economic times, and (3) how this “constitutional moment” can be used to create a strong foundation for advancing these values.
Stay tuned for new material in the next few months, including: (1) new case studies on institutional transformation, (2) literature reviews synthesizing cutting edge research on bridge programs, rethinking merit, innovation, transformative leadership, institutional intermediaries, collaboration, and networks, and (3) a video on rethinking merit. We look forward to sharing ideas and developing collaborations in the coming months.
