Daytona Beach Junior College was founded in 1957 and in its
inception did not even own any buildings. The stories I have heard during my
tenure at the college reveal that the first classes were offered in a grocery
store that was rented at night after closing. The first bookstore was the trunk
of the professors’ cars. According to the History of Daytona State College
(2010), the college’s three divisions included college credit, adult education,
and vocational school. Obolensky (2014) stated that two approaches to strategy
exist. One strategy reflects the yin while the other reflects the yang. The
intended strategy (yang) consists of analysis and is the more traditional
approach. The emergent strategy (yin) is the more dynamic of the two
approaches.
I can imagine the intended strategy of the inaugural
president of Daytona Beach Junior College to be to hire the best professors,
provide the best material, and offer the lowest prices in the Daytona Beach
area in route to accomplishing the mission of the college of providing a great
education in each student’s chosen field. As time passed and the number of students
began to grow, the president and staff had to adapt a new strategy that
included acquiring a campus and offering more programs. I imagine the feedback was minimal to all
employees and that the strategy of the college in its infancy relied mostly with
the president and upper level staff. Obolensky (2014) said that if individuals
are not involved in the development of the strategy then they tend to have less
understanding of the strategy, and I can envision that being the case in the
early days of the college.
The college that began in 1957 as Daytona Beach Community
College without an owned classroom is now known as Daytona State College (DSC).
DSC has seven campuses in central Florida and has an enrollment of nearly
seventeen thousand students. What began as a two year junior college with three
divisions now offers over one hundred certificate, associate, and degree
programs (History of Daytona State College, 2010).The small junior college has
seen a lot of changes over the last sixty years. Though the goal of offering a
quality education at competitive prices has not changed, the strategy has
evolved and adapted over the years.
At some point during the college’s life, a board was
developed to govern the college. The board members were selected by the Governor
of the state of Florida and serve three year terms. This change resulted in the
strategy development no longer lying in the hands of the college president. The
board would now guide the college to success or failure and would be the main conductor
of the college’s strategy. Having a board in place also changed the feedback at
the college. In the traditional hierarchy of a silo, the board added another
level of leadership which most likely resulted in the lower level employees
being even less informed.
Being in the accounting department of the college, I
generally do not feel like I am part of the organization’s strategy. Our
interdepartmental strategy is to submit clean reports to the State of Florida
and conduct clean audits by following all laws and audit guidelines. Obolensky
(2014) discussed that strategies can be defined by how fixed or fluid they are
and that strategies should be clear so followers will take initiative. Over the
last 2 years, the strategy at DSC has gone through changes that are even
visible in our department.
Being a subdivision of the state of Florida, DSC receives
state funds each year that are a crucial part of our operational budget. Prior
to 2014, each of the 26 community colleges in the state of Florida would get an
equal piece of the state funds. In 2014, it was announced that a ranking system
would be developed and the colleges would receive funds based on the
rankings. The areas that were involved
in the rankings included: completion rates, average years to graduation,
average salary after graduation, amount of time it takes to earn employment,
matriculation rates, GPA, etc.
The initial rankings showed DSC at the bottom creating two
results. First, the college’s share of
the revenue was reduced. Secondly, one half of the awarded revenue was held
until the college could prove that they had a plan in place to increase the
performance that resulted in the poor ranking. The strategy of the college
shifted to increasing the areas that were included in the rankings.
Working with local employers, the college was able to create
a network that would text and email students local employment opportunities in
their field to help reduce the time it takes for students to earn
employment. The Admissions department
began devoting their attention to working with students who were facing issued
with matriculation. The goal was to make sure all admitted students enrolled in
a class before the matriculation deadline. The enrollment department began
working with students to attempt to enroll them in each semester. The mission
was to make sure that students seeking a
two year degree earned the degree on time and the same mission existed
for the for year degree. With the mission and strategy clear to all employees
of the college, DSC was able to raise their ranking from a third tier college
in the initial rankings to a second tier college in the second rankings. The
strategy for the college has been forced to adapt over the last couple of years
and the new strategies support the goal of becoming a top tier college every
year.
If I had to guess the next stage in the evolution of DSC and
where the college will be in ten years, it would be extremely difficult to do
so. Over the nine years I have been employed at the college I have seen two
presidents whose contracts were not renewed, two CFO’s whose contacts were not
renewed, and three controllers in my department. I have witnessed bad economic
times where enrollment skyrocketed resulting in new programs being added and
great economic times where the college was forced to lay off employees. The
strategy of offering classes online has also grown exponentially in the time I
have spent at the college. With the new ranking system, I would expect DSC to
continue to strategize on how to increase their performance on the judged
areas. As technology changes, I could also see DSC adapting to the changes and
offering more technology friendly classrooms.
I would never want to make a guess about where I will be in
ten years in my relation to the company, but with the increased knowledge of
leadership and logistics I am gaining through my Masters journey, I am hoping
to bring a leadership and logistical view that will help to develop and
implement the strategy at DSC.
References
History of Daytona State College. (2010).
Retrieved from https://www.daytonastate.edu/catalog/facts/history.html
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership: Embracing paradox and uncertainty (2nd ed.). Gower.
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