INFO 282-14 (1 Unit)
Seminar in Library Management
Topic: Change Management
Spring 2021 Syllabus

R Barefoot
E-mail
Office Location: Online
Office Hours: Virtually, by appointment via email, Google Chat, or Blackboard Collaborate.  
Class Days/Time: Online, asynchronous 

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning January 27th at 6 am PST unless you are taking an intensive, or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets.  

This intensive one-unit course will be available beginning March 3rd, 6 am PT. The course ends on April 7th.

You will be enrolled in the Canvas site automatically.

This course will be offered completely online and students must have Internet connectivity and technology requirements, such as a computer, special hardware devices or software apps that are used for other iSchool courses.  Students must have these hardware and software configurations to participate in classroom activities.

Faculty Web Page and MYSJSU Messaging
Course materials such as syllabus, handouts, notes, assignment instructions, etc. can be found in the Canvas learning management system course website.

Course Description

Application of management theory will be applied to specific problems. Readings and discussions of the development of effective strategies for planning and implementing organizational change will be shared.  

Course Goals

Many libraries have learned to adapt in order to keep up with changing learning environment needs and yet many others have lacked resources to make any change possible at all.

• How do libraries help us learn, work and play in a period of unprecedented change and growth? 
• What are the benefits of updating your library skill set to lead and manage change?
• Can you be that leader that facilitates change successfully? 
• Would you like to know how to make a couple of small changes for the highest impact? 
• Or do you need to know how to lead high-level organizational discussions to better assist your library divisions’ front-lines that are challenged with facilitating change? 

Even if you have a fearless attitude and skill set to deal with challenges being real and authentic during each discussion helps you foster a highly functional work and play environment. 

This course will show you the components of change management, how to build a resilient staff team, and how to facilitate incremental steps to reach positive outcomes using real library challenges.  We will explore what's realistic in different library settings and why leaders today need this particular tool of change leadership in their toolkit.  We will participate in discussion forums and online meetings.  There will be assigned groups for some coursework.  Welcome!

Other Readings

Library Liaison
For assistance please contact our library liaison, Ann Agee:
http://ischool.sjsu.edu/people/faculty/king-library-liaison

Assignment List

Coupled with the assigned readings above each week there are tasks totaling 100 points for the course and due 11:59 pm Tuesday of their corresponding week. This course has 4 weekly modules, each running Wednesday to the following Tuesday.  

Week 1: (25 points) Mar 3 - 9

Student Discussion: (5 points) Introduce yourself, your goals for taking the course, and state how comfortable you are with being a change agent. Include a quote on change and tell us why it inspires you. Please respond to others in the discussion. CLO #1  CLO #4 

Student Discussion: (5 points) Using the reading on how to craft a message of change in Leading Organizations Through Transitions, pp. 67-68, choose a recent situation on the news or in your organization where meaning was contested.  What were the key elements necessary for the listeners to understand?  Create an improved message using descriptive word images that better describe the message and ensure clarity, consistency, and comprehension.  Post below.  Respond to other posts with your own thoughts on clarity, consistency, and comprehension. CLO #1 

Group Assignment: (10 points) Read the listed selections below which are also listed in this module's reading list and discuss in your group the following four reading selections and post a 3-page paper (or 2-minute video recording) summary, double-spaced, on what you see is Organizational Change and how it impacts our workplaces. CLO #1, CLO#2

• Creating the Project Office, by Randall Englund (2003)    Englund p58-69.pdf
• Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding strategic change in organizations, by Constance E. Helfat...[et al.] (2007)   Helfat pp119-120.pdf
• Leading Organizations Through Transition: Communication and Cultural Change, by Stanley Deetz, Sarah J Tracy, and Jennifer Lyn Simpson. (1999) Deetz p60-61 67-68-1.pdf
• Toolkit for Organizational Change, by Cawsey, T.F. (2007) Cawsey p1-21-2.pdf

Quiz 1: (5 points)

Week 2: (20 Points) Mar 10 - 16

Student Discussion: (5 points) Using the reading, The Speed of Trust, by Stephen Covey pp. 236-245 discuss the differences in high and low trust organizations. Post below.  Respond to other posts with your own thoughts on how trust is a factor in organizational effectiveness. CLO #2 

Individual Assignment: (10 points)  Using the scenario outlined in this SSP Case Study.docx  explain how the Life Cycle: PLAN DO CHECK ACT (PDCA) tool would help you lead change with the project proposal and team development around this issue? Also, answer these questions in your two-page, double-spaced, or in a two-minute video. "What are your thoughts on what staff needed during the transition period? What tips and techniques did you read here as useful when dealing with staff concerns?"  CLO #1, CLO #2, CLO #3

Quiz 2: (5 points)

Week 3: (20 Points) Mar 17 - 23

Student Discussion: (5 points) Discuss uses of understanding and developing team dynamics using the four animal types explained in this Unit. Post below.  Respond to other posts with your own thoughts on team member personality dynamics and the challenges of building teams to be effective.  CLO#2, CLO#3, CLO#4

Individual Student Assignment: (10 Points) Utilize the SJSU SI digital library to identify current change research impacting libraries, their customers, staff, operations, facilities, access, etc. Please include research affecting how rural towns and economically challenged countries are dealing with meeting the demands of educating communities. Summarize your findings and provide analysis in your two-page, double-spaced report. Also, include results of your own neighborhood library experiences. CLO #1, CLO #3, CLO #4

Quiz 3: (5 points)

Week 4: (35 Points) Mar 24 - 30

Student Discussion: (5 points)

Read Enchantment: the art of changing hearts, minds, and actions, pp. 104-109. Did you find anything that improved your understanding of organizational change? Post your answer below and respond to others in the discussion. 

Individual Student Assignment: (10 points) Interview a leader that has facilitated change. Submit results with assessment. Do not interview a project leader but instead someone that has had a major role in change leadership and working directly with people to accomplish change in a library or business.  Use any of these Change Management Interview Questions to structure your interview and your reporting out. The 3-7 page report includes 2 parts. See below. CLO #3 

1. Make an appointment to interview by phone or in person.  Prepare and practice your questions before interviewing the change leader. Note of caution: interview change agents/leaders, NOT project managers.
2. Turn in the results of the interview using the question-answer format from the template provided. Include your response to these questions at the end of the report: Have your views on what it takes to be a change leader changed in any way since interviewing this person? How?

Quiz 4: (5 points)

Summary and Final Assignment-

Final Group Assignment: (15 points) Using the reading by Amy K. Garmer. (2016). Libraries in the Exponential Age: Moving from the Edge of Innovation to the Center of Community.   Retrieved http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/dialogue-public-libraries (Links to an external site)  pp. 1-44. Your group/project team are advising the change leader responsible for bringing a library staff onboard with the concepts in this report to improve [choose a library]  library services, operations, and community connection.  Your group assignment is to provide a roadmap on how to tackle the priorities for the library appropriate in the first weeks, months and first year. Identify likely projects and efforts that will need to be accomplished. Spell out what your change leader might expect, possible scenarios to troubleshoot, how to do that, rough timeline, reporting out, communication plan all applying the tools learned in the course.  --Explain how your group would advise this change leader in this effort in a 9-page, double-spaced report, or webpage with embedded media recordings.  Include application of many tools explained in this course and how they can be applied using this Aspen report initiative. You are the consultants to advise this change leader. Points given for creativity, insight regarding the Aspen report, and tools explained in the course.   CLO #1 CLO #4

*Tentative course calendar including assignment due dates, quiz dates, date of final project are subject to change with fair notice.

Grading Policy

• Point weight of grade given to each assignment is noted above.
• Extra credit options are unavailable.
• All assignments must be submitted by 11:59 PM (PST) on the day the assignment is due. Late assignments will be reduced by 20% of point value per day late. Please contact Instructor, Ruth Barefoot, if a medical or a family/personal emergency prevents you from submitting an assignment on time. Student participation will be assessed per occurrence where dialog has been requested on discussions, posts, and assignments. Attendance and participation are required throughout the course.

Classroom Protocol
There are no synchronous classroom experiences scheduled this seminar. However, all students will be expected to participate, support an atmosphere of collegial respect, be prompt when arriving for any discussions, and turn in course requirements by/before their due date. This instructor will favor and utilize Canvas or Voice Thread for weekly discussions, requested one-on-one meetups with the instructor, and group assignment discus

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 282 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Define organizational change and describe how it affects library organizations today.
2. Explain implementation challenges experienced by exemplary leaders in business or libraries.
3. Analyze the range and complexity of change leadership styles.
4. Apply research-based best practices to significant areas of change leadership responsibility.
5. Develop a plan for implementing a specific change in the workplace.
6. Create a personal growth plan for continued change leadership development.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 282 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Recommended Textbooks:

• Harvard Business Review. (2011). HBR's 10 must reads on leadership. Harvard Business Review. Available through Amazon: 1422157970

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

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