A Holistic Case Study on Leaders in the Division of Enrollment Services’ Experiences Implementing Interdepartmental Partnerships in Higher Education

The purpose of this holistic case study was to understand the experiences of higher education leaders in the division of enrollment services at a public research university who experienced departmental realignments or mergers because of performance-based funding initiatives. The study addresses the gap in the literature on the effect of change on interpersonal relationships in higher education. The theory guiding the study is Tierney’s theory on organizational behavior among college employees. The research methodology consisted of three phases. I conducted focus groups, individual interviews, and document analyses. The setting was a large research university in an urban city. There were 15 participants. The data analysis process consisted of coding responses into categories and examining the codes to identify consistent themes. The central research question guiding this study was, “How do higher education leaders in the enrollment services division describe their experiences implementing or managing organizational change in their departments?” The results revealed that stress and job dissatisfaction were minimal because of merged departments. There was some frustration related to high employee turnover which limited staff training and development. Participants generally attributed turnover to the growing student population and administrative work. Some employees mentioned that merging departments led to morale clashes.