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Got a (controversial) change in the plans at your institution? A blog might be the perfect communication channel.

February 2nd, 2007 by Karine Joly

Most people don’t like change (I thrive on it, but I know I’m in the minority on this one ;-).

In higher education, the announcement of any proposed change (be it a website or logo redesign, a new strategic plan or even worse a change in the name of the institution) will result in complaints, fights, protests and worst case scenario: status quo.

That’s why the communication around the decision-making process is so critical. It’s very important to offer the proper communication channels to allow people to voice their concerns or their praises.

Andrew Careaga, UMR communication director and a seasoned higher ed blogger, has just launched a blog about the name change project in discussion at his institution: “Name Change Conversations.”

Obviously, comments — mainly from alums at the time of this writing — are open as the reverse would defeat the whole purpose of the blog, i.e. get conversations going about the project.

Andrew has done a great job addressing concerns and complaints in the comment area while sharing links to newspaper coverage about the topic.

Go check it out if you have a big change coming your way!


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One Response to “Got a (controversial) change in the plans at your institution? A blog might be the perfect communication channel.”

  1. on 03 Feb 2007 at 2:49 pm1 Andrew

    Thanks for mentioning this, Karine. This is a new approach for us, but an important one, I think. The idea is to provide an open forum for all sides of the issue. It should be an interesting experiment.

    So far, it’s been an interesting experiment — and a lot of fun, if you happen to be a masochist! :)

    As for change, I recently heard this quote: “Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.”

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