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Queen’s Faculty of Arts and Science is leading the way when it comes to change leadership and innovation in the academic space.

FAS Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) Bill Nelson and former Associate Dean (Academic) Jenn Stephenson have created a new model that looks at ways administration and faculty/staff can more effectively work together to create that kind of change. “Agency in a Box” is a new, collaborative, strength-based model for effecting change in academia. It is a solution to the challenge of how to bring the expertise and creativity of faculty members together with the system of resources, policies and regulations to co-develop innovative solutions that are operational.  

“We’ve called it Agency in a Box because it encapsulates the challenges between academic administration and faculty members,” Dr. Nelson explains. “This is a model for how these two groups can work together better.”

The central function of the model is that administrative leaders transparently frame the resource and policy constraints as a “box,” articulating the parameters for what a successful outcome must look like, while faculty members use their expertise to generate a tailored solution that fits within that box. The model builds on the strengths and perspectives of both administrators and faculty members.

“The whole sector is undergoing massive change, and you can think of all the marvellous ideas in the world, but if you can’t make them operational, then you’re nowhere,” says Dr. Stephenson.

Dr. Nelson adds Queen’s University was very public about being an institution at a crossroads, but the university was also the first one to come through with big changes. “We were the first out with the problem and first out with solutions and, as a result of that, we have learned things that are important about how to do this kind of work.”

“Because the crisis hit here first, we moved ahead of other universities and so we have experience in how to get things done,” Dr. Stephenson adds.  

Drs. Nelson and Stephenson recently published two articles in Academica Forum, a publication for postsecondary professionals, as part of the Illuminating Hope series, that focus on their Agency in a Box model. The first article discusses the and the second and provides practical examples of how it actually works.

A central element of the model is designing a “box” which describes the parameters and constraints for a successful solution. Those constraints might articulate committed resources, key qualities of the student experience, or outcome metrics. While the box is a constraint, limiting possible solutions, it is also a promise, where administrators guarantee that anything that fits inside the box will be operational.

Dr. Stephenson points out that, “Working with this model has the benefit of saving faculty members who are engaged in making change from spinning their wheels on ideas doomed to sitting on a dusty shelf.”  

Drs. Nelson and Stephenson presented their new change leadership model at the conference in Ottawa, a pan-Canadian gathering built for university leaders ready to move beyond business-as-usual. Their talk was titled How Do We Redesign Programs for Today’s Constraints and Tomorrow’s Students?

On Friday, February 6, Drs. Nelson and Stephenson are the featured guests at the upcoming Higher Education Strategy Associates Focus Friday webinar, which is forum that brings people together from across the country around a pressing issue in higher education.