Leaders within higher education are increasingly tasked with reshaping or restructuring their departments to better align with organisational strategy or respond to financial pressures. These changes can bring increased workloads and place both practical and emotional strain on the systems and people within academic institutions.
To support leaders navigating these challenges, we introduce our Change Academy. Exclusively open to Advance HE members, this is a structured, practical programme designed to foster peer learning and support as you implement change in your organisation.
This is a virtual programme that provides an opportunity to work with colleagues from Advance HE member organisations from across the globe.
Applications are now closed for 2024/25 Change Academies. You can register your interest about future cohorts.
Register Your Interest
Cohorts for 2024/25 are now closed. If you are interested in a joining a Change Academy, please register your interest and you will be the first to hear about future cohorts.
What is the Change Academy?
It provides a unique opportunity for higher education leaders working on change initiatives within their departments or faculties to come together in a supportive environment whilst navigating change. Participants will gain access to:
- Supported team working within your organisation
- Supported, self-facilitated action-learning sets with peers from other organisations
- Sharing and exploring relevant resources and tools
- Reflective practice deepening learning and application
- Increasing relational resilience through a supportive network.
At the conclusion of the programme, participants will have the opportunity to attend a summative event in June/July 2025 to share insights on what works in academic change management. This event will be bring together various groups, including those from our Change Oversight and Change Instigation Workshops and Collaborative Development Fund.
In the short video below, Barbara Bassa, Senior Consultant, Advance HE explains more about the Change Academy.
Programme Structure and Timeline
There will be up to four cohorts of the Change Academy, with the first two at an accessible time for organisations located in the Western Hemisphere; and the second two tailored more for those in the Eastern Hemisphere. (Members are welcome to choose the timeslots that best meet their needs, regardless of location – all sessions are virtual).
The Change Academy is structured to support groups (mini-teams) of people who are designing, instigating and/or driving change in their organisation. Up to 14 organisation will send mini-teams of between two and four change leaders to each of the Change Academy cohorts. The purpose of organisations sending mini-teams rather than individuals is to enable them to learn together as a group and to have joint accountability in bringing their learnings to bear in their change initiative after each session. The change academy process is designed with recognition that organisations are implementing many different change initiatives, over different time frames and that some will be new and others ongoing and that the contexts will be different. The change academy endeavours to meet each mini-team wherever they are at in their process.
The launch session will introduce the change academy and bring the teams and their change initiatives to each other, and will also offer an introduction to action learning, which is foundational to the change academy.
After the launch session, each Change Academy will follow a similar structure. Led by experienced facilitators this will consist of time for the cohort to regroup and update each other on progress and successes; action learning sets where participants take turns to present a question on their change initiative and receive peer coaching; reflection and intention setting to prepare for the following meeting. Outside of each session, the facilitator will curate and share an appropriate change resource for the group and the mini-teams will be expected to consolidate and apply learnings to progress their change initiatives.
Organisational mini-team
– Same organisation/initiative – Joint accountability to change project – Sense making – Application of learning
Action learning set
– Diverse organisations/initiatives – Peer to peer coaching – Perspectives and insights
Change Academy Cohort
– Whole cohort – Reflection and learnings – Collation of themes – Intentionality and accountability
Change Academy timetable cohorts 1 and 2:
Applications for cohorts 1 & 2 are now closed. Please find the dates below for Cohorts 1 and 2 which have been adjusted following feedback from our members. The exacting timings for each session are to be confirmed, but we’ve indicated whether the session is scheduled for the morning or the afternoon.
| Session | Cohort 1 Dates and Times (GMT) | Cohort 2 Dates and Times (GMT) |
|---|---|---|
| Change Academy Launch | 14 January – whole day event | 16 January – whole day event |
| Change Academy session 1 | 12 February AM | 13 February AM |
| Change Academy session 2 | 20 March AM | 20 March PM |
| Change Academy session 3 | 24 April PM | 23 April AM |
| Change Academy session 4 | 21 May AM | 21 May PM |
| Change Academy session 5 | 10 June AM | 12 June AM |
| Governing and Leading Transformation summative event | 25 June 08.00 – 12.00 | 25 June 08.00 – 12.00 |
Change Academy timetable cohorts 3:
Please find the dates below for Cohort 3 which are designed for those in the Easter Hemisphere. Applications are now closed.
| Session | Cohort 3 Dates and Times (AEST unless stated)) |
|---|---|
| Change Academy Launch | 19 February – 12:30 to 3:30pm AEST |
| Change Exploration Session 1 | 19 March – 12:30 to 3:30pm AEST |
| Change Exploration Session 2 | 30 April – 12:30 to 3:30pm AEST |
| Change Exploration Session 3 | 21 May – 12:30 to 3:30pm AEST |
| A joint session with UK peers to review progress and learning to date | 25 June – 8:00am – 12:00pm GMT |
| Change Exploration Session 4 and review | 16 July – 12:30 – 4:00pm AEST |
Meet our experts
The Change Academy will be facilitated by higher education leadership experts. Below you will find the team members so far confirmed to be involved.
Mark Adderley
Barbara Bassa
Senior Consultant, Leadership and Organisational Development
Advance HE
Jo Chaffer
Key Global Associate
Advance HE
Sarah Hubbard
Senior Consultant in Senior Leadership and Strategic Transformation
Advance HE
Katy Murray
Leadership and organisation development consultant
How to Apply
Applications are now closed.
For Cohorts 1 and 2, the deadline to apply was: 09:00 GMT on 9 December.
For Cohort 3, the deadline to apply was: 09:00 GMT on 16 December.
We welcome multiple applications from the same organisation. In the application, you’ll be asked to provide details on:
- The project you are working on
- Your goals and desired outcomes
- The names and roles of your team members (minimum 2, maximum 4 participants)
- Your organisation’s support for your participation, including time commitment and strategic alignment.
You will also confirm your commitment to:
- Working as a ‘mini-team’ on a specific change project
- Attending every session
- Actively participating in action learning
- Meeting as a ‘mini-team’ at least once in between each session
- Collaborating on a final output to share your learning at the June 2025 event.
If the Change Academy cohorts are over-subscribed, we will consider the following when allocating places:
- Diversity of the ‘mini team’ – colleagues collaborating on a project across different disciplines and job roles
- Diversity of change projects proposed on the cohort
- Diversity of applications (institutions and organisations in the Western hemisphere) to ensure varied discussions amongst the colleagues
- Clarity of the commitment of participation as indicated on the form, including sponsorship
- Clarity of the goal of the change project proposed
Follow the links below to apply for your preferred cohort.
Bespoke change academy for both members and non-members
If you are not an Advance HE member organisation and would like to discuss how a Change Academy could support your transformation; or if you are a member and you are looking for a more tailored version of the Change Academy for your organisation, please get in touch: networks@advance-he.ac.uk
