ABSTRACT
Once committed to developing a research-rich curriculum, the ability to change an existing curriculum requires a strong commitment to the change process. In this chapter, one way to embark on a transformational change effort is described using the organizational change process pioneered by Kotter. This chapter displays how Kotter’s eight-stage process for change was applied in the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Transformations project to guide teams down the path to the creation of new backward designed, scaffolded curricula. After a discussion of the nature of change in the academic world, the various components of Kotter’s approach are displayed and vignettes on how various CUR Transformations departments applied these principles are explored. Numerous examples are used to illustrate the connections among the different components of the change process.
