Hea 640 Milestone Three Guidelines And Rubric In Higher Educ

Hea 640 Milestone Three Guidelines And Rubric In Higher Education

In higher education, buy-in is needed in order to truly evolve. With that being said, this form of consensus is also needed to enforce compliance with regulations and policies that guide the operations of higher education institutions. While working with your team to compose your response plan, you must also keep in mind the importance of communicating your actions to your entire institution community. Communicating the purpose and intentions of the work while you are conducting the work helps to shape opinion and motivate behavior. Thus, an expanding inclusive awareness of the response plan will help to guide change in the opinions of your naysayers and cynics.

A melting pot of opinions exists in higher education; some of these opinions are simply neutral, while others are drastically hostile. With such an environment, it is important for you to include supporting data with your communication. Supporting data aids in persuasion—a process that will enable you and your team to convince institution stakeholders to change their attitudes and/or behaviors regarding the new response plan through the transmission of your communication. You will now act as the Director of Communications for your institution, and your primary role in this position is to direct and manage the institution’s internal and external communications. Due to the recent regulatory change, you need to communicate new exceptions and compliance requirements to the entire institution community (i.e., administrators, faculty, staff, and students).

In Module Seven, submit a communications piece (e.g., email announcement, formal letter, postcard, etc.) that you and your team will use to communicate the response plan to a large and diverse body of internal stakeholders. Discuss why you think the communications piece you have chosen would be an effective communication strategy for the task at hand. Compare and contrast your communications piece with other types of communication strategies while providing justification for the communications piece selected. Also, explain how your communications piece aligns with the concept of an adult learning theory. Be sure to illustrate how the theory anticipates change in behavior among internal stakeholders as it pertains to their reception and interpretation of the information that your communications piece will provide.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: I. Develop a communications piece in order to inform the internal stakeholders of new procedures or policies related to the regulatory decision. II. Explain how your communication piece complies with the constructs of an adult learning theory. a. How does the learning theory inform how internal stakeholders will receive and interpret these changes? b. What did you consider about the learning theory when developing your communications piece?

Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a four- to five-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three sources cited in APA format.

Paper For Above instruction

The successful implementation of new policies in higher education relies heavily on effective communication strategies that not only inform stakeholders but also facilitate behavioral change aligned with institutional goals. As the Director of Communications, selecting an appropriate communication piece and ensuring it resonates with adult learners are crucial to achieving these objectives, especially amid regulatory changes.

In this context, I have chosen to develop a formal email announcement as the primary communication piece. The email format offers several advantages: it ensures rapid dissemination of information to a broad audience, allows for detailed explanation of new procedures, and provides a record for future reference. Compared to other strategies like town hall meetings or flyers, email is accessible across various devices, cost-effective, and adaptable for including supporting data, links, and attachments. Town hall meetings offer interactive dialogue but may exclude some stakeholders due to scheduling conflicts, while flyers may lack the depth needed for complex policy changes.

The content of the email will begin with a clear subject line emphasizing the importance of the message. The body will succinctly describe the regulatory change, highlight the specific procedures or policy adjustments, and include supporting data to justify the necessity of these changes. To appeal to adult learners, the message will be crafted respecting their need for relevancy and autonomy, addressing how these changes impact their roles and responsibilities, thus emphasizing immediate applicability and importance.

Aligning with adult learning theory, particularly Andragogy articulated by Malcolm Knowles, the communication will incorporate principles such as self-direction, prior experience, and readiness to learn. Knowles emphasized that adults need to understand the reason behind learning new information, which informs the detailed explanation of why the regulatory change is vital for institutional compliance and quality improvement. The email will also acknowledge stakeholders' prior experiences with policy changes, encouraging them to relate new information to their existing knowledge base, thereby facilitating understanding and acceptance.

When developing this communication, the principles of adult learning theory influenced several design considerations. For example, recognizing that adults prefer to learn when they perceive the relevance — the message explicitly links policy compliance to the institution’s mission and stakeholders’ professional responsibilities. Furthermore, the email will invite feedback through a designated contact, fostering a sense of autonomy and engagement, which are central to adult learning principles. Including data visualizations and links to resources ensures that stakeholders can access detailed information at their own pace, supporting self-directed learning.

This approach contrasts with more passive communication strategies, such as memos or posters, which might not engage stakeholders actively or address their specific learning needs. The email's tone will be respectful, clear, and empowering, aimed at motivating stakeholders to understand and embrace the change rather than simply comply with it.

In conclusion, the carefully crafted email communication aligns with adult learning principles by prioritizing relevance, respect for prior experience, and fostering autonomous, self-directed engagement. This strategy not only informs stakeholders but also encourages internal acceptance and behavioral adaptation necessary for successful regulatory compliance in higher education.

References

• Knowles, M. (1984). The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (3rd ed.). Gulf Publishing.
• Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. Jossey-Bass.
• Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass.
• Brookfield, S. (2015). The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom. Jossey-Bass.
• Illeris, K. (2018). The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. Routledge.