Change agents’ structural roles and reflection on improving student success: Insights from a departmental action team case

One model to foster institutional change and promote college student success is the Departmental Action Team (DAT) framework, which deploys a small discussion group of departmental faculty, staff, and students to identify challenges and implement solutions unique to their department contexts. There has been a suggestion to measure the within-department discussion network and examine DAT members’ positions in group dynamics that influence collaborative efforts. However, little is known about what can be identified through social network analysis on the structural roles of DAT members in the within-department discussion network and how it can be related to their post-DAT reflection. Using a case of an engineering department at a public urban U.S. university that engaged in a DAT initiative, this study examined the direct ties and brokerage roles of four DAT members across three years by analyzing the within-department discussion network involved in making changes for undergraduate students. Compared to the baseline, DAT members had some increases in centrality and showed more different types of brokerage roles, even though these patterns weakened one year after the end of facilitation. DAT members’ structural roles were aligned with their post-DAT reflections on individual learning on leadership, collaboration, or student success. However, some DAT members also reflected their limited values and resources at the department level. The combination of social network data and interviews is beneficial for future DAT researchers to proactively consider potential members’ structural roles for team formation and strategic facilitation.