Change Managementin Higher Education
As the pace of change and digital transformation picks up across all industries, higher education institutions face theirown unique challenges. Bank of America recently held a panel discussion with higher education clients who shared theirbest practices for managing change. The following is a summary of the conversation.

Create a steering committee to build consensus and buy-in with multiple stakeholders
Unlike the corporate world, which can mandate change, higher ed
institutions need to communicate broadly to foster more consensus andbuy-in from numerous stakeholders. “We have many stakeholders, so weneed to be more methodical than other industries,” said Timothy Hesler,
assistant treasurer for New York University.
That means more preparation from the onset to garner interest andgather resources. Hesler recommended creating a steering committee tocreate the business case and break down the project into clear, actionable
deadlines. “We found that a siloed approach just won’t work well for ourindustry,” he explained.
Hesler also emphasized how fostering a collaborative environment isimportant in the current job market and to diversity, equity and inclusion
initiatives. Having that collaboration in higher ed, “it’s important to createthat business case. It’s essential to include the schools in projects forvisioning to get the functional requirements in those sessions,” he said.

bank of america article

Moreover, he added: “we see it as a chance to improve our strong DE&I
initiative in our continuing mission to recruit, retain, and advancediverse employees.”

Mike Popko, director of disbursement at the University of Pennsylvania,
agreed with the sentiment. When the university wanted to implement anew paperless supplier portal, Popko and his team expanded an existing
cross-functional team to include representatives from all the various
schools and centers, gathering subject-matter experts who listened andcommunicated well.
“We were able to reach out to the entire university, which is very
important,” he recalled.

Then, they spent a year communicating what they wanted to accomplish
with the supplier portal and homing in on the requirements for such asystem. Through the process, the stakeholders shared important ideasand feedback.

moderator
Lynn Wiatrowski
National HeadHigher Education, Treasury
Bank of America

participants
Timothy T. Hesler, CTP
Assistant Treasurer
New York University

Mike Popko
Director of Disbursement
University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Donald Addison II
Faculty member
University of Georgia
Terry College of Business

Dr. Troy Montgomery
Faculty member
University of Georgia
Terry College of Businesschange management in higher education

Foster awareness of the problem,solicit ideas and gain buy-in toinspire advocacy
Another crucial part of change management in higher ed is getting
on people’s radars and creating “champions” for the project.
The panelists emphasized how heightened awareness is critical togetting buy-in so senior leaders will drive accountability and results.
To do this, teams first need to communicate the problem with across-section of affected employees. This way, everyone gains anunderstanding of the need to change. Hesler said he makes aneffort to be inclusive by giving various groups a chance to review
the statement of work. Raising employee awareness ultimately
helps a project because it puts those affected in the position topropose solutions. One way to do this is through a hub. Popko
shared that his university created a virtual hub that allows different
departments to submit ideas for change.
The pandemic accelerated digital transformation at manyorganizations, including higher education. Hesler recalled how hetried to outsource check printing for years, a move that finallyhappened in 2020 in conjunction with a shift to more ACH andother digital payments in their virtual payables program.
In this case, circumstances fostered awareness of the problem.
“We found out that looking for incoming checks was really inefficientand clunky during the pandemic,” he said, adding how he was oneof a few people coming in to deal with hundreds of pieces of mailand millions in checks payable to the university. “I must have signed
100+ documents so they can convert those to an ACH…there’s
less of those random checks coming in and more ACH, a real
boost to NYU,” Hesler said.

Success with one digital transformation project can encouragechange in other areas, too. Popko shared his university embraced
robotics process automation, or RPA, to automate certain work
processes within procure-to-pay that were manual, high-volumeand rule-based. The university did three proofs of conceptsinvolving RPA with different vendors in 2020, but these were put
2 | bank of america article

Hesler said. “Sometimes you need to scale back if necessary to be
successful in the project to prevent that scope creep,” he stated.

SC&E Adoption Framework

Heightenawareness

1

2

Promotedeconstruction“Don’t be afraid to delay it a little bit and make sure you’reBuy-in
Inspireadvocacy

4

That may mean narrowing or scaling back the project to improvethe chances for success and create leadership buy-in. Popko addedthat extending a deadline is sometimes helpful to ensuring success.

3Createsolution

Employeecontribution©2019 SC&E Partners, LLC.

on hold for a while because of the pandemic. In 2022, they completed
a pilot and automated one process.
Another panelist, Donald Addison, faculty member at theUniversity of Georgia Terry College of Business and former change
management executive at Bank of America, also emphasized how
important it is to foster awareness among all affected employees.
“Quite often, leaders fail to share the initial challenge orproblem with their employees in favor of contemplating theproblem at the highest level, making a decision, then telling theemployees what’s going to happen,” he stated.

The benefits to communicating the problem early and often pay
off because employees feel more invested and can offer helpful
insights. “It’s amazing what a fresh set of eyes can do. It allows
you to leverage a view from the trenches and quite frequently
surfaces other aspects of the problem or challenge which mid- or
senior-level management typically miss,” Addison said.

Scale back to ensure successSeveral panelists noted it is critical to tackle manageable, “doable”
projects that can succeed and build traction. Schools and faculty
have a particularly long memory when it comes to recalling failures,in good shape,” he said. When his supplier portal project ran into
issues, they decided to extend the deadline by a month while
communicating the change to everyone.

Hesler advised starting implementation quickly to get a quick
turnaround — another factor that helps build momentum. “Getthat quick turnaround between the assessment and thenthe project kickoff and implementation that sell the change.
That’ll kind of boost your bias and urgency for change. Don’tdelay,” he said.

Create a mindset that is prepared forsetbacks and comfortable with change
While scaling back and narrowing the scope of a project canincrease its chances for success, panelists said it’s also essential
to prepare employees for setbacks. Change is hard and not always
linear. Projects encounter setbacks, and when they do, it’s up tochange management leaders to prepare employees for an initial dip
in productivity or ROI. That’s when leaders typically get nervous, andresistance starts to build in an organization.
Troy Montgomery, faculty member at the University of Georgia
Terry College of Business and former consultant on organizational
improvement at Bank of America, reviewed the five stages ofgrief — shock, denial, anger, resignation and acceptance — thatorganization behavior scholars say also apply to the way groups andindividuals in organizations deal with change. “This is one of the key
points in communication that we’ve got to remember as leaders.
Our teams and individuals are working through this transition,” hesaid. Team members are dealing with something new that they’renot familiar with or proficient in and that can be a cause for despair.

change management in higher education

Communication is key, he said. Both the message and who delivers
it are important. If there’s a setback or bad news to communicate,it should come from the person who has already establishedrelationships with stakeholders. “It’s not just what the message is,Celebrate wins publicly

but it’s also who delivers the message and then how the message
is framed up,” he said.

Wins !

There are techniques to minimize that dip in proficiency orproductivity, Montgomery explained, but even more important isthat team leaders prepare employees to accept change. One of themain drivers to that dip in productivity or proficiency is mindset.
“Most of us human beings aren’t comfortable with change, sothe question is, are your associates or team members open
to experience the change? Are they open to training?” he said.
Without the right mindset and training, a project faces serious
hurdles. The most important thing, he emphasized, is “we’ve got tocommunicate that things are probably going to get worse before
they get better.”

Lastly, panelists emphasized theimportance of celebrating all
wins and making sure the broader
community knows about it, too.
Success begets more success. Wins
help create more leadership buy-in
and recognize the work of project
teams and steering committees,
which can otherwise be invisible.

After the successful implementation of a new paperless supplierportal, Popko recalled how his team was able to show quantifiableimprovements across the board. At one point the university wasprinting 110,000 checks a year; that’s now down by 64%. Now thatthe portal is up, they continue to celebrate its success and addedimprovements each year. Each celebration makes it clear how
it’s been a team effort. “It was just a sense of team university

Conclusion
Higher education institutions face challenges such as numerous
stakeholders, but as these panelists showed, following bestpractices can help bring about successful change. Creatingawareness of the problem, managing expectations and giving
employees a voice in the process inspire inclusivity and buy-in,
paving the path to success.

Contact us to learn more
Contact your Bank of America representative to discuss these topics
or ways we can help your institution.

accomplishment, not some central group that’s trying to force
something down,” he said.

“Bank of America” and “BofA Securities” are the marketing names used by the Global Banking and Global Markets divisions of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives, other commercial banking activities, and trading in certain financial instruments are performed globally by banking affiliates ofBank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Trading in securities and financial instruments, and strategic advisory, and other investment banking activities, are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“Investment Banking Affiliates”),
including, in the United States, BofA Securities, Inc., which is a registered broker-dealer and Member of SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, by locally registered entities. BofA Securities, Inc. is a registered futures commission merchant with the CFTC and a member of the NFA.
Investment products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates:
Are Not FDIC Insured©2024 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. 6451904 03-24-0051

3 | bank of america article

Are Not Bank Guaranteed

May Lose Value