Addressing the Overall Dissatisfaction of the First-Year Student Experience in University

Abstract The concept of student experience has caught the attention of administration in postsecondary institutions, so much so, that they have dedicated departments that deal entirely with the experiences of students on campus. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses the students’ overall dissatisfaction with their first-year university experience. The focus of this OIP is to provide a solution that will improve the overall experiences that students have. The OIP begins by introducing the organization through a PEST analysis and provides a framework for the problem of practice, utilizing secondary data that is publicly available. Utilizing structuralist theory as the theoretical lens and guided by theory on student experience, transformational leadership will be employed to ready and implement change at University X. To manage resistance and anchor the changes in the organizational culture, a shared leadership approach will be adopted by the change team. This perspective will be present throughout the organizational readiness, plan development and implementation stages, to ensure that there is progressive movement towards a solution that will improve the student experience. The OIP concludes with a solution to improve the student experience by enhancing student engagement, developing appreciative advising and providing alternative teaching approaches for faculty. Methods for monitoring and evaluating the change process will also be incorporated to ensure sustainability. In addition, a communication plan will be introduced, intended to keep all the stakeholders informed of the changes, the successes and the short-term wins, to create positive momentum and to set the stage for future change. Keywords: student experience, transformational leadership, shared leadership, student engagement, structuralist theory, appreciative advising and teaching abilitie