Strategies for Re-imagining Prior Learning A Study in Change Management
Presentation Type
Lightning Sessions (20 minutes)
Presentation Abstract (250 word max.)
When Antioch University restructured its operations into a Schools-based structure, this brought together different sets of campus-based programs across the country as well as programs housed in an online division into a single academic unit. As part of this shift, leadership recognized the opportunity to integrate the four different methods of prior learning assessment into a unified process that would better serve all programs across the School in a more academically consistent and fiscally sustainable way.
Though designing prior learning assessment processes warrants careful consideration in any situation, creating a new model out of multiple long established programs requires another level of change management. This collaboration brought together the dean, department chairs, faculty and staff with much prior learning expertise, but also various interpretations and applications of relevant theories and best practices. Managing this change process balanced different priorities and diverse stakeholders over a period of nearly two years, and this session will share strategies that were effective (and not so effective!) over this period.
The session will also highlight the conceptual frameworks and high impact practices related to prior learning assessment that were prioritized and are now embedded in the new system. Participants will be encouraged to share elements they prioritize in their own systems and to consider how to develop design criteria that might help focus reviews of their own prior learning practices.