All natural systems are built with a certain amount of inertia - a tendency to maintain status quo unless forcefully influenced to vary. An academic department has systems, processes, norms, and a culture that all will tend to vary little without some significant influence. What are the influences that tend the academic department toward change? Changes in administration, such as a new dean can begin to alter the environment and move a group toward change. The "market", whether as the flow of students into programs, or the hiring of graduates by business. The organizational structure can change for a department and will result in a new set of paradigms for the department. Turnover of faculty causes an influence with both the hiring of new faculty and retirements of senior members. The influence of accrediting agencies also bring about change to the academic department. At UD from 96-00, each of the above factors were at work and resulted in some of the most significant rate of change experienced by most academic departments. A dean of the School of Engineering was not renewed, and a provost position changed hands. The influx of students was all but cut off. An organization that had previously existed as three departments became one, several faculty members retired and others were hired. Faculty members who taught support topics within the department were moved from the SoE to the College of Art and sciences. It was truly a period of dramatic change.
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