Journal of College Orientation, Transition, and Retention

Preparing for Promise

A Case Study on Proactive Change

Ben Littlepage

Teresa Clark

Logan Stout

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v25i2.2120

Keywords: Tennessee Promise, structural change, student support service, orientation

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Abstract

Four-year postsecondary education institutions in Tennessee have sought systemic balance during a period of unprecedented change as a result of Tennessee Promise, a last-dollar scholarship program. The present study explored how administrators at four-year private, not-for-profit, and public-assisted postsecondary educational institutions responded to the need for structural change, as defined by Buller (2014) and Kezar (2013), through the delivery of orientation services. Investigators found that administrators reacted to anticipated change differently. Administrators who embraced the change sought to control the situation, create a culture of innovation, and seek coherence when the status quo was disrupted.