Introduction

Technology Institute of the West (TIW) is a higher education institution that fosters an inclusive environment offering a broad array of degrees, programs and international experiences. The university is a private institution, receiving $629 million in revenue from their prestigious research program and employs over 6,500 faculty and staff.

Business situation

TIW is located in northern California, placing its students near Silicon Valley, a hub for technological innovation. As online degrees become more accessible, TIW recognizes the need to begin offering this option to its current student population as well as targeting a new audience: experienced workers. Additionally, TIW understands it must offer more flexibility in class scheduling, such as evening classes, in order to better accommodate this demographic of student.

As these issues become a rising priority for the university, TIW faces several challenges that stand in the way of a successful change in direction, including the merger of six smaller, sister institutions around the region to complete TIW’s vision of “one institution, infinite possibilities.”

In preparation for this merger, it has been noted that TIW’s organizational structure is more bureaucratic than the other sister institutions – given its size – and there has been concern and gossip amongst sister institution staff that there might not be enough room to accommodate all faculty and administrators in the post-merger organization.

Problem statement

TIW has requested Deloitte’s assistance to help develop a strategy/vision to realign employee and leadership roles from merging the six sister institutions. This new strategy should also take into consideration the needs a new academic structure that includes an online degree program, evening classes, and flexible scheduling could impose on faculty and staff.

Key considerations:

• There are major cultural differences between campuses – one institution does not have any core curriculum (requisite classes) and others have well-defined majors and degree programs.
• TIW leadership has already established a “guiding coalition” of campus executives to help guide this change, but not all institutions are represented in this coalition.