Community Conversation: Rethinking Change Management in Higher Education

Change is a constant in higher education—whether it’s rolling out new technology, updating policies, or reimagining campus-wide processes. But navigating change effectively? That’s where things get complicated. Institutions often find themselves struggling not just with the logistics, but with the people side of change: getting buy-in, aligning stakeholders, sustaining momentum. For this reason, we brought the topic into a community conversation at the 2025 Jenzabar Annual Meeting (JAM). What did folks have to say?

Participants gathered to examine what “change management” really means, and why it’s so difficult to define and do well. What emerged was an open, insightful discussion about the real challenges campuses face, the human dynamics behind resistance, and how a shift in language—from management to empowerment—might lead to more meaningful, sustainable change.

What Is Change Management?

When asked to define change management, participants didn’t land on a single, tidy answer—and that ambiguity was telling. Some described it in terms of logistics: setting goals, communicating clearly, navigating setbacks, etc. Others viewed it more conceptually as a process of reflection and adaptation. The variation in responses highlighted something important: Change management isn’t one thing; it stretches across departments, touches every level of an institution, and often means different things depending on who you ask.

That’s also what makes it so hard to define. Unlike technical projects, change management is rarely confined to one department or owned by a single person. Change management is cross-functional, layered, and deeply influenced by institutional culture. Because change management spans both technical and human systems—and touches every part of the organization—it resists being neatly pinned down. Everyone’s talking about change, but not always in the same language.

From Change Management to Change Enablement and Empowerment

Change management in higher education is often seen as an IT-led task—especially when it comes to rolling out new software or system updates. But many participants in our conversation pointed out that this perspective is too narrow. While IT may handle the technical side, another substantial challenge lies in managing the human side of change: the expectations, emotions, and assumptions people bring to the table. This complexity often gets overlooked when change is purely treated as a technical project.

This technical-human gap also raises a crucial question: Is “management“ the right word? The term implies control and oversight—ideas that work well for technical processes but can alienate people when applied to human experience. Instead, some participants proposed shifting the language toward “enablement” or “empowerment.” These terms emphasize partnership, support, and shared responsibility, all of which are essential for fostering true engagement across campus communities.

Putting Change Empowerment Into Practice

Enablement and empowerment aren’t just feel-good concepts; they require clear roles, boundaries, and shared accountability to work effectively.

Because change often starts with IT, a practical solution that surfaced repeatedly during the conversation was creating department liaisons, i.e., campus experts embedded within academic or administrative departments who’ve been empowered to serve as bridges between IT and the functional teams impacted by change. These liaisons are responsible for translating technical updates into day-to-day realities, helping end users understand and adopt new systems or processes. With its concept of shared ownership, the empowerment model spreads beyond IT and prevents change from becoming siloed, thereby increasing its chances of long-term adoption and success.

Change Is Human Work

If one message rang loud and clear from this conversation, it’s that change is never just about systems, processes, or tools—it’s about people. Whether you call it management, enablement, or empowerment, successful change efforts begin with clarity, trust, and shared purpose. As institutions continue to evolve, adopt new platforms, and rethink old processes, the most important strategy may not be technical at all; it may be the ability to bring people into the process, give them a voice, and support them in becoming change agents.