Porterville College is student oriented and as such must adapt to student needs as they increase and change.  Each department must consider their unique services that are provided to students and find ways to maximize college effort between departments.  Let us find ways students can be afforded superior services by maximizing departmental services.

The main value at Porterville College is to provide students with an exceptional education.  Change must occur to redirect emphasis from department related services to college related services.  For example, rather than sending a student to several different offices in search of one form, forms should be made available in a central location, as well as, each department and online. While this might initially be costly stocking each department, the long term accessibility will greatly benefit our students. Rather than sending students away from Admissions and Records (i.e., to student services, the computer lab, and library) to enroll online, allow early registration at the counter if they choose to wait in line.  Many students prefer face-to-face contact, and those values are being lost to computer based services.

Employees must be willing to accept new ideas and fresh outlooks by adapting their current values of serving too many students, to embracing the idea of serving the most number of students.  Too often employees feel burdened when students ask for assistance.  It is imperative to remember that if it not for providing student assistance many jobs would have reduced hours if not completely eliminated.  Perhaps a competitive vantage could be sought to serve the greatest amount of students by the end of each day, in the form of an organizational game.

The Administration will require change as well to incorporate maximizing departmental services.  The Deans, Vice President, and President must be supportive of the staff that provides the services to students.  They will be the leaders who continually ask, “How can it be done better?” They will hold the responsibility to guide the organizational change, and detour from the mindset of, “It has always been done this way.”

Challenges will occur while seeking organizational change at Porterville College, but preparedness will ready the institution for those obstacles.  There will be external and internal objections.  For example, externally the college must be prepared for other community colleges and vocational schools to take advantage during this time of change.  Change can sometimes foster internal resentment or animosity, which can create an appearance of weakness.  If the college appears weak these other types of organizations may attempt to lure Porterville College students to their campuses.  Therefore, Porterville College must unite to successfully change.

Challenges will occur internally as well.  Unfortunately, and partially a reason for the necessity of change, are the fiefdoms and self-oriented culture within the organization. Many departments, and several individuals within each, exude territorial instincts.  These instincts may be to protect the tasks of the department, as a security method to prevent others from the ability to duplicate services.  Often control becomes a factor; designating certain times one is willing to do certain activities, for example processing transcript requests, or advising students.  The very idea of scheduling may be abused as students are scheduled right out of student services. 

Service orientation is very closely related to the fiefdoms in the organizational culture at Porterville College in that each department provides a particular service, and does not wish to duplicate other department services, assisting in the creation of fiefdoms.  Territorial attitudes, protecting departmental services, and avoiding students by creating schedules convenient only to the employee are negative aspects in the organizational culture, and a main reason for necessary change.  The organizational change plan will adjust fiefdoms to unity, and service-oriented departments to student-oriented departments.

Organizational change at the community college level is not anticipated to be a walk through the park; however there are several strategies that will be utilized to accomplish a successful change.  First and foremost will be open communication; it is the key that will open the lock to unity.  Unity will be strengthened with honesty and trustworthiness.  The honest, truthful, open communication will take place once per week in an open-forum setting.  Each week every person on the Porterville College campus will come together to work towards unity and successful change.  One half of the open-forums (for example the last hour of each meeting) will be open to students as well, so that they may assist in a student-oriented college campus.  The open-forums will be a place to express concerns, combat competitiveness, and congratulate those who are embracing a united college campus. 

It will be up to the faculty, staff and administration to recommend rewards, as a strategy to reinforce positive change.  Small steps such as proactive policy revisions such as, how it used to be done compared to how it will be done in the future will be rewarded.  Rewards may be organizational fun days, or barbeques for staff and family.  These ideas will originate with the employees and are meant to reward even the smallest steps towards the continual organizational change.

Realistically not every person in every department can do the same job, and they will not be asked to do so.  However, any task that does not require specialty, for example assisting students in online registration, assisting with forms, answering basic questions, retrieving forms, and etcetera are not tasks that require expertise, and therefore every person on campus should be capable of performing.  Commonly known, change is neither easy nor widely accepted.  Internally employees will resist.  Competition may occur between staff members and/or administration to either change the quickest, or resist the most.  The goal is to remodel “how it has always been done”.  No longer should students be sent away from an office, when the staff member is capable of completing whatever it may be the student needs.  For example a student should not be sent away from Financial Aid to retrieve a copy of their schedule, when the staff in Financial Aid is perfectly capable of printing the schedule for the student.  Only in high traffic times should a student be sent searching for something they need, that anyone is capable of doing.  The statement, “I can’t help you because that is not my department” is by far passing-the-buck, and less than mediocre student service.

The outcomes for the anticipated organizational change will be SMART; specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, and time-determined.  These outcomes are intended to guide the change process. 

• Ten percent more students served (by counseling appointment) by counselors during the 2005/2006 school year in comparison to 2004/2005 school year.
• Ten percent more students Matriculated (assessment and orientation process) during the 2005/2006 school year in comparison to 2004/2005 school year.
• Meet the expected growth numbers established by the state of California prior to the deadline of August 2006.

Without a doubt, Porterville College can reach the above listed objectives, through hard work and unity.  The goals will only be met through teamwork; individual effort will not work alone.  In addition to teamwork the following strategy has been designed. 

Advertising from Porterville College will increase dramatically.  Students will not attend Porterville College if they do not know what they can get out of it.  For example, students must be recruited from high schools, junior high schools, group homes, malls, job fairs, employment offices, and etcetera.  They must be shown what type of degrees or vocational certificates they can earn, and in what time frame they can earn them.  In addition to advertising what type of education they can receive, they must know how to get it.  The college will advertise the importance of scheduling advising appointments earlier due to shortage of counselors.  Counseling hours must be widely advertised on campus as well as in the newspaper, and on local bulletin boards.

Counselors will be accountable for their student contact time.  One of the main disadvantages students endure is the lack of available counselors and counseling hours.  Too often a counselor has excessive preparation hours scheduled, or are late for appointments, requiring rescheduling of others.  Counselors will be expected to work the hours agreed to in their contract, as well as balance those hours so that they are available during the summer session, since the budget does not allow for additional counselors to be employed.  Unity means that counselors and staff will work together for the common good of the student.  Obviously, while the new found accountability will initially be met with resistance, creating unity will work on everyone’s behalf.

Admissions and Records office hours will remain the same; however the services they offer will be extended to better serve students.  Walk-in registration will begin at an earlier date to allow for additional registration support from Admissions and Records.  The idea is to prevent students from be being directed to another area of campus to register via online.  When the Admissions and Records office is open, and registration is open, students should be entitled to enroll at the counter if they wish.  It is unwise to cater only to those who are computer literate.  Enrollment numbers will increase with this small change, due to the lack of frustration students will endure when attempting to register.  The easier the registration process is, the greater the number of students who complete the process will be.

Support staff will cross train or potentially rotate jobs, in order for one employee to solve a student issue, rather than involving several offices and several employees.   Rotating jobs creates specialties in many areas, resulting in a very valuable employee who has the potential and ability to serve many students.  Granted, specialized tasks will require students to visit more than one office.  Many services can be provided by almost any employee on campus, for example assisting with online registration. Resistance is expected due to the fiefdoms in the organization, but once the campus unites and works for the good of the students, the resistance will fade.  Territorial attitudes will fade as well, since many staff will be able to do only what few staff in the past could accomplish.

Understanding the common goal to this strategy is most important.  When we understand why we must change, the transformation becomes much easier and even welcomed.  Without recognizing the need to adjust from our current culture to a more united one, the change will never occur, which in the end places our students and our campus at a disadvantage.