Indigenization Of Postsecondary Education Applied Learning Curriculum Development, Gabriel Y. Chung

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (2015) Calls to Action have awoken Canadian society to the reconciliation. Although there is a growing body of knowledge on the individual topics of Indigenous education, knowledge, and leadership, there is relatively little research bringing together these topics in curriculum development practices in a postsecondary education skilled learning context. My problem of practice (PoP) is one that strives to address a low enrolment of Indigenous adult learners and lower positive outcomes from skilled training programs. Situating this problem from my perspectives as a Canadian-born visible minority Settler on Turtle Island and postsecondary education …

Building Dynamic Capabilities Towards Innovation And Flexibility, Marianne Iaboni Marando

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In March 2020 most Higher Education Institutions around the world quickly moved to online learning and work with only one week to prepare. While the pandemic forced us to do this quickly and without a well thought out plan, most of us met this challenge. The World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was no longer a global health emergency on May 5, 2023, but many institutions had started the return to “normal” before then. This Organizational Improvement Plan starts with the vision that rather than retrenching back to “normal”, Ontario Polytechnic, a large polytechnic institution in Ontario, Canada, should be …

Re-Invigorating Mid-Career Faculty At A Canadian Mid-Sized College: Strategies For Professional Development And Mentorship, Melanie J. Hamilton

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Mid-career faculty (MCF) currently comprise a predominant number of faculty at higher education institutions. Mid-career faculty applies to those individuals who have been teaching within post-secondary education for more than five years but are still more than five years from retirement. As faculty move into this middle phase of their career, there tends to be fewer opportunities for professional development, reduced opportunities for advancement or leadership, and a lack of mentorship. These decreased opportunities lead to a decrease in MCF job satisfaction. At Riverside College (a pseudonym) a significant percentage of the faculty leaving the college in the last few …

Increasing Collaboration Between Noncredit Staff And Credit Faculty, Dimitra Fotopoulos

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) focused on two specific stakeholder groups within a liberal arts postsecondary institution in western Canada: the noncredit faculty (NCF) and academic faculties. A third group, the external community, is also a key stakeholder that will benefit from the OIP through relevant programming for work-ready graduates. The NCF, in which noncredit certificates, diplomas, and professional development programs are offered, is tasked with revenue generation. It is an outward facing arm of the organization, with a strong focus on building relationships with the business and nonprofit community. The goals of the academic faculties are to develop and …

Cultural Shift From A Teacher- To A Learner-Centered Teaching Environment In An Undergraduate Nursing Program, Katalin Pere

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The changing Canadian demography—resulting in an older population with increasing health issues—coupled with the ongoing pandemic, requires nursing programs to produce graduates ready to provide safe, competent nursing care. Learner-centered teaching (LCT) is an effective approach that facilitates deep learning and the emergence of a new meaning of knowledge. However, teacher centeredness in nursing education that emphasizes memorized knowledge versus higher-order thinking is still prevalent. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) aims to shift the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of the nursing faculty in an undergraduate nursing program in Ontario, Canada, from those of a more traditional lecturer role to those …

Mental Health In Elementary Schools: Supporting Students Using A Multi-Tiered System Of Support, Sarah Katerina Garrett

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) provides a template for addressing the lack of mental health support available to elementary school children. It focuses on the process that will be used at one elementary school to respond to internal and external pressure to provide mental health education. This organizational change is significant and requires a comprehensive change plan. This OIP demonstrates that continuous school improvement coupled with planning and commitment provides a framework, named the hybrid change model, that will ensure successful implementation of this change initiative. This framework includes five stages: study and commit, plan, build capacity, implement and monitor, …

Embracing Complexity To Foster Program Adaptation At A College In Ontario, Paula Benbow

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The knowledge, skills, values, and confidence needed to practice dental hygiene safely, effectively, and ethically are evolving. Healthcare and the higher education landscapes are becoming increasingly complex. Despite the increased curricular competencies, emerging research about positive aspects of baccalaureate dental hygiene education, and out-of-province trends towards degree education, Bayview College continues to only offer a diploma credential that is specific to dental hygiene. Diverse views have polarized faculty on how to adapt the dental hygiene program so that it better meets professional, community, and societal needs. This Organizational Improvement Plan explores the organizational context at Bayview College and proposes a …

Autonomy And Empowerment To Be Creative And Engaged In A Collaborative Culture, Mohamed S. Hanif

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This document is an Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP). The purpose of the OIP is to address a specific problem of practice (PoP) at a private career college in Ontario (the College). The PoP at the College is the need for instructors to have autonomy and empowerment to be creative and engaged in a collaborative culture. An organizational analysis at the College determined that the present functionalist theoretical organizational framework and its hierarchical structure inhibit collaboration. After a comprehensive review of scholarly literature, this OIP recommends that a postmodernist theoretical organizational framework and a follower-centric approach to leadership using the transformational …

A Faculty-Based Approach To Engaging University Alumni, Osman Hamid

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Alumni engagement is widely defined as the level of relationship graduates have with their alma maters. Universities have an opportunity to leverage benefits from having strong connections with their alumni. Furthermore, graduates generally have a stronger affinity to the academic departments they graduated from than to the universities where these departments are based. Additionally, the fiscal and regulatory pressures facing Canadian universities within the province of Ontario highlight the advantages that come with having an engaged alumni community. The Problem of Practice (PoP) investigated in this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is the lack of alumni engagement within a faculty of …

Strengthening Academic Leadership Practices In A Regionally Dispersed Multi-Campus College In Canada: A Collective Approach To Leadership, Diane N. Sénécal

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Postsecondary institutions are expected to respond to constantly changing and varying interests and needs of businesses, communities and students. An increasing number of postsecondary institutions now offer multiple programs and services to respond to this new reality, expanding their activities outside of traditional education, through research, community partnerships or corporate training opportunities. As a result, many now have multiple campuses and departments to support this new reality.

This Organizational Improvement Plan explores one regionally dispersed multi-campus college, College X, in the context of academic program delivery across campuses. It focuses on the challenges of alignment and coherence in program delivery …

Continuous Improvement Leadership In Applied Research, Silvana Maclean

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The purpose of this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) is to assist leaders in Ontario colleges in understanding the barriers and challenges of engaging faculty to enact applied research practices. Undergirding this OIP is social cognition theory and the analytical discipline of improvement science theory. Taken together, these theories align with systems thinking and are a step towards a holistic understanding of the dynamics of a college learning culture. Underpinned by a set of simple principles including improving through communication, learning through collaboration, and changing through coordination, a continuous improvement (CI) leadership approach, which combines servant (Greenleaf, 1977), team (Kogler Hill, …

Exploring Resiliency During The Nursing Student Clinical Experience, Natalie N. Mcmullin

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In nursing programs, it is common for students to not complete their degree (Van Hoek et al., 2019). This problem is perpetuated as students who experience high stress and lack resiliency are more likely to be unsuccessful or take longer to complete their nursing degree (Van Hoek et al., 2019). Resiliency is not only important for students during their degree, it is essential to continuously strengthen it throughout their nursing career (Turner & Kaylor, 2015). The aims of this organizational improvement plan will be to empower nursing students to be more resilient in the clinical setting so that they are …

Increasing Support For Victims Of Sexual Assault Through The Adoption Of A Victim-Centered Approach To Police Investigations, Kara Brooks

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Police 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 …

The Impact Of Leadership And Change On Job Satisfaction, Team Effectiveness, Employee Engagement And Workplace Culture: An Organizational Improvement Plan, Victor Jimenez Gonzalez

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan presents an actionable plan to the problem of low job satisfaction in the International Department of an Institute of Technology. The connections amongst leadership, workplace culture, employee engagement, and team effectiveness are explored with a view to implementing changes to leadership, employee engagement and team effectiveness that will foster a positive workplace environment with improved job satisfaction. Leaders and staff in the International Department are aware that some members systematically engage in behaviours that are anathema to the institution's ethical principles. Consequently, this has resulted in a plethora of adverse outcomes such as lack of trust …

Responding To The Absence Of Leadership Education In The Early Years Curriculum, Elena Merenda

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

The field of early childhood is in a state of flux. Governments nation-wide are initiating changes, in response to the growing body of research demonstrating that early engagements with children and families creates positive outcomes for the whole community. Due to this evolution, there is a social and political expectation that early childhood professionals act as leaders. Although leadership is necessary as the field evolves, the literature suggests that early childhood professionals are hesitant to enact leadership, as their nurturing and caring characteristics are contrary to those required by traditional leadership models enacted by men. In order to empower early …

Creative ‘Class’: Leading Innovation With Digital Pedagogy In Cultural And Creative Industry (Cci) Programs, Dana Morningstar

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Leaders of cultural and creative programs (CCIs) in Ontario community colleges are key to realizing potential in higher education related to digital pedagogy, creativity, industry partnerships, entrepreneurship and innovation. In this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP), the role of an academic leadership group is considered from Ontario-centric creative industry and innovation policies and college processes. The problem of practice is the gap of harmonized leadership strategy between higher education classroom practices and regional and provincial overarching educational strategy to increase innovation through digital pedagogy. Colleges have collective capacities in innovating with digital pedagogy in creative industry programs and providing graduates with …

A Systems Approach To Increasing Awareness And Coordination Of Student Retention And Completion At A Canadian College, Peter A. Mal

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

As competition for students and scarce resources increases due to political and economic pressures, awareness and coordination of student retention and completion become a critical priority for post-secondary institutions. However, despite increased attention on Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) (Black, 2010; Gottheil & Smith, 2011; Hossler & Bontrager, 2015; Wilkinson et al., 2007) and the growth of retention-focused student services in recent years, retention rates remain unchanged (Habley, Bloom, & Robbins, 2012). Post-secondary students are in the midst of a significant transition period (Tinto, 1993) and face challenges related to mental health and wellness, relationships, rigors of academic life, and personal …

Organizational Improvement Plan, Jenny Morgan

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Within the constraints of competing ideologies; Indigenous vs Western knowledge, health service leaders committing to embedding cultural safety and humility into health care services for Indigenous peoples, and the broader change of direction laid out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015), is the overall need to improve health care services, experiences, and outcomes of Indigenous peoples. This need includes increasing the number of Indigenous peoples working at all levels and disciplines in health, and signifies the organizations responsibility to retain those employees once they enter the system. A mainstream tertiary health care centre located in Western Canada …

Oise-Cidec-Ciesc 50-Year Relationship: Lessons Learned In Leadership, Mentorship, Partnerships, Identity And Innovation, Mary A. Drinkwater, Stephen Bahry, Teodora Ajanovska Gligorova, Melissa Beauregard, Wales Wong

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

As we approach the 50^th anniversary of CIESC, we heed Vandra Masemann’s call to “gather and reflect on our historical memory” and to strive to “build our identity and broaden our reach”. Data for this paper were gathered through a combination of interviews and document analysis. Interviews were conducted with 9 current and former OISE-CIDEC faculty and staff. Documents reviewed included: CIDEC newsletters, annual reports, director/co-director reports, CIE Journal and other academic journal article reviews, and book reviews. In order to trace the evolution of the relationship between OISE-CIDEC and CIESC, we undertook a chronological analysis broken into three …