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Continuity through
Disruption
Pivoting through disruption involves the collective ability to determine what is possible now, what must wait and exactly how to proceed to achieve student, research and service priorities.
PIVOT. ADAPT. EVOLVE.
Crucial Shift Consulting helps colleges and universities strengthen shared governance to make and execute decisions that stand up in practice.
Virtually every part of each college and university has been disrupted by continuous change. The institutions—and the people who make them work—carry the weight of many pressures and competing priorities. They carry unfinished initiatives alongside new demands of the same people, systems and resources that are already stretched thin. They cannot absorb one more initiative or shift in direction until everyone understands the weight of what is already being carried. An unparalleled level of shared governance is required.
Crucial Shift Consulting specializes in helping decision-makers at all levels move forward together mindful of not compromising the people, systems, resources and relationships that make achieving the mission possible.
You're Not Alone
72% of administrators identified managing change as one of their toughest challenges according to a 2022 survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education and Watermark.
Everything is interrelated. Resource decisions affect people. Systems influence processes. Data inform decisions, but people carry them out. Leaders impact the entire organization. Together we'll sort out and strengthen the relationships among people, systems, processes, resources and evidence—because that's where interventions either take hold or unravel.
Systematic change management has to be incorporated into daily practice because how problems are understood and how solutions are developed and implemented shape outcomes as much as the solutions themselves. Crucial Shift Consulting works side by side with leaders at every level to navigate the common barriers that interfere. The goal is to leave the organization better able to pivot, adapt and evolve through disruption.
The Crucial Shift Difference?
We start from the beginning.
The outcome? Not just a completed project but a stronger institution.
Shared Governance Decision-Making
Change management frameworks, strategies and facilitation to enhance campus wide capacity to make and sustain decisions.
Stakeholder Engagement and Pivot Teams
Strategies and projects to enhance stakeholder communication and engagement. Training and support for internal cross campus teams that continually assess capacity and support goals.
Planning and Implementation
Training and ongoing support for cross campus planning and inititave implementation that addresses hidden dynamics unique to higher education institutions.
Crucial Shift Consulting helps cross campus groups make sense of what is happening in their institutions — TOGETHER
There's no substitute for the expertise, time, preparation and dedication needed to solve problems, seize opportunities and achieve academic, research and service goals. We don't start with a model—but with institutional reality—to support crucial shifts in mindsets and actions accordingly. Understanding how higher ed institutions move from individual experience to shared action is fundamental to the process:
People experience the same college from different roles and responsibilities. A faculty member, an administrator and an operations manager may all be responding to the same situation, but they often begin from different understandings of what is happening and what solution is needed. Our work is not about convincing faculty to think like administrators or administrators to think like operations.
It is about building a common frame as each recognize that others are experiencing the same institution through different realities:
Recognition
The work begins by helping members of the campus community name what they already know from their own role in the institution.—“Yes, that’s my experience.”
Perspective
Different roles and responsibilities shape different views of the same institutional reality. —"Okay, now I understand why someone else is experiencing it differently.”
Shared Understanding
A shared and actionable understanding of the institution begins to emerge across roles and functions. Without a shared understanding, the time, commitment and resources needed to pivot are underestimated. —“Together, we can see the institution more completely and identify what is needed next.”
Supported Implementation
This stage addresses the capacity required to move from decisions to sustained implementation in practice, including resources, skills, motivation and ongoing institutional support. —“Now we can work together to build and sustain the capability required to successfully implement priorities.”
Each stage of this approach is supported by specific tools and practices used by Crucial Shift Consulting's work with higher education institutions.
Client
"Thank you for seeing
what we didn't see. Our trust in your process paid off."
Donna M. Buchanan, Ed.D., President
Over 30 years of experience working alongside and interacting with professionals at every level and in every department of higher education institutions to systematically accomplish mission-driven goals. Dr. Buchanan understands how operations, people, governance, resources and leadership interact because she has been responsible for all of them. She has personally accomplished complex projects across academic, administrative, medical and research units. Dr. Buchanan has designed and facilitated leadership development courses for staff and faculty. Her work is informed by scholarship on how institutions adapt and evolve.
Higher Education
Experience
As adjunct, visiting faculty and guest lecturer Dr. Buchanan taught leadership, business management, strategic planning and change management, human development and higher education administration to students, educators, social service professionals and leaders from a wide range of backgrounds and ages, and a variety of colleges and leadership programs.
For a decade at the University of Southern California, she led organizational and leadership development, change management, strategic planning, process reengineering, stakeholder engagement, succession planning, conflict mediation and systemwide project implementations projects across multiple campuses.
As an internal and external consultant, Dr. Buchanan has supported leaders in solving problems, implementing programs and expanding capacity to achieve goals.
Broad Professional
Experience
Previously, Dr. Buchanan worked in sales, marketing, management and training for Bullock's Department Stores, Procter & Gamble and KCPQ-13 TV. She has served as a founding board member of organizations and programs and in other volunteer capacities.
Dr. Buchanan holds a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from the University of Southern California. Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural Human Development and Teaching Adults (Andragogy) from Pacific Oaks College. Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Political Science from Loyola Marymount University.
Dr. Buchanan's unique combination of experiences have provided her a unique vantage point and expertise for navigating the human and organizational dynamics of higher change management in colleges and universities.
Past Projects
The projects below were completed as an employee or consultant.
We keep clients publicly confidential and provide references to potential clients.
Division
Reorganization
Planned and implemented an academic division's reorganization, including programs, staffing structures, administrative processes and resources. Included change and transition management protocols.
Strategic
Planning
Led strategic planning, continuous improvement initiatives and professional development for a facilities division with 400 staff. The organization achieved 90% of objectives across plan cycles.
Project
Management
Led the planning and successful implementation of an unprecedented university-wide compliance program impacting over 200 departments across multiple campuses, including academic, research and medical faculty and staff.
Stakeholder
Engagement
Upgraded a division’s internal and external communication protocols, channels and content, strengthening stakeholder engagement and improving organizational effectiveness.
Planned and Implemented town hall meetings, retreats and other inteventions related to major projects and conflict mediation.
Change
Managment
Every inefficient process forces people and organizations to carry unnecessary weight. Dr. Buchanan led two critical process reengineering initiatives that transformed facilities operations by improving workflow efficiency, cross-functional coordination and service delivery. She also directed the transition strategy for an industry award - winning process reengineering initiative.
Performance
Improvement
Utilized a range of methodologies to assess gaps in human performance and designed practical, measurable blended-learning solutions, including executive coaching, webinars, workshops, classes and online learning content.
Implemented change management for enterprise-wide technology initiatives such as eLearning and ePerformance Management.
Let's Connect!
You are responsible for holding things together while everything around you is changing. I understand what that is like.
Bring your questions, your ideas or simply the situation you're trying to make sense of. We'll spend 45 minutes exploring it together.
No pressure. No promises. No sales pitch. No charge. Just a conversation.
