Real Culture Change | 010 | Strategy in Action
Culture is stubborn, but persistence creates real change.
Most college educators already have many of the answers they’re looking for.
They’ve piloted a project. They’ve run the PD. They’ve heard the students.
But somewhere between knowing and doing, things get stuck.
It’s not because the majority of people don’t care. It’s not because the majority of faculty don’t want to improve.
It’s because higher education is allergic to implementation.
The free Culture Change & Continuous Improvement Resource Page Was Built for the Tired, the Stuck, and the Ready.
This isn’t a "framework of frameworks" or another Canva-looking toolkit that collects dust after a retreat.
This is a collection of comprehensive answers to the actual questions that come up over and over again in rooms I’ve been in for the last two decades:
Why does our culture feel so heavy?
Why does nothing stick?
Why are we still trying to convince some people that students matter?
Why are we still trying to convince some people that equity matters?
Why haven’t we fixed student onboarding?
Why do some people actively block the work?
And why, after all the meetings, do things still look the same?
The answers aren’t always fun, but they’re real.
And so are the tools.
Four Questions, Hundreds of Conversations
Here’s the structure. Four questions. Each one loaded. Each one backed by practical resources that reflect not just strategy, but lived experience.
1. What’s up with organizational culture?
Culture isn’t what's written in your mission statement.
Culture is what gets protected. What gets rewarded, quietly and consistently.
This section includes tools to:
Spot the unproductive behaviors that derail progress
Separate faculty/administrator perception from actual practice
Name the difference between participatory governance and weaponized governance
Reflect on whether your institution operates to serve mostly the students who already know how to navigate the college
This isn’t abstract. These tools have helped colleges finally name what’s been undermining them for years.
2. How do we begin to tackle campus-wide culture?
You can’t change culture without changing attitudes, behaviors, and structures—otherwise, the same patterns return.
Here you’ll find:
The logic model that’s helped teams clarify goals, align projects, and stop chasing shiny objects
Strategic prompts that cut through initiative fatigue and focus teams
Examples of what it actually looks like to launch and sustain improvement processes
Student Success Podcast episodes with sharp, funny, and truth-telling guests who live this work
Changing culture doesn’t start with everyone. It starts with some people doing something differently, and documenting and consistently communicating it well.
3. How do we build a culture of continuous instructional improvement?
Where do open and broad access institution students spend most of their time? In the classroom.
Real change in the classroom happens when:
Faculty inquiry & action teams are supported, not just convened
Departments are allowed to dig into their own success data without being shamed
We make room for productive struggle, not performative workshops
This section highlights:
Dr. Al’s inquiry & action model that improves outcomes for disproportionately impacted students
Reflections from math and English faculty who got real about pedagogy
Tools to support reimagining grading, supporting neurodivergent learners, and how to implement culturally responsive teaching
You don’t need a new ivory tower theory framework. You need time, support, and structures to let faculty do the work and see the results.
4. What are examples of effective programs & services, and how do we implement them?
Not everything has to be a pilot.
Some things already work.
This section shows you how to build on them without killing them with bureaucracy.
It includes:
Effective dual enrollment implementation
First-Year-Experience effective implementation that avoids the trap of “more events, less impact”
STEM transfer, Future Teacher, and Veterans programs that are actually producing results
Plus: an implementation planning tool I wish every college used before launching anything.
The Real Talk You Were Expecting
If your campus has brilliant people doing brilliant things, and still feels like it's going in circles, it’s not because of a lack of passion. It’s because your systems are set up to wear people down.
This resource page won’t fix your culture. But it can:
Name the dynamics that keep things stuck
Offer real-world tools that don’t need a committee to implement
Remind you that you’re not alone, and you’re not crazy
This resource is for the doers. The thinkers. The leaders who aren’t waiting for perfect conditions.
Go Take a Look (Seriously)
Visit the full resource page.
Share it with your team. Use it in your next retreat. Make it your low-stress Sunday scroll. Use it for your doctoral program.
Just don’t let it sit unopened in your bookmarks folder.
You don’t need another playbook.
You need partners. A plan. And a little push.
Here it is.
And if you need help to move from planning to actual implementation, I can help. It’s what I do. I help practitioners be successful. I’m only an email away.
Onward…
Dr. Al Solano
Founder, Continuous Learning Institute | About
Host, Student Success Podcast
A meaningful test of success is how helpful we are in contributing to our fellow human being’s happiness.