Building Institutional Culture Beyond the Guidebooks

As a campus leader, your role is to have a clear vision and plan to instill the culture you want to create at your institution. Whether you are a long-time campus leader or new in your role, there is always an opportunity to improve upon the culture.

Maybe at this point you have articulated your vision in a guidebook, developed standard operating procedures, and shared expectations widely across the campus community in a variety of ways. But here is the real question: Are you and the other members of your leadership team consistently modeling that vision through your actions and holding others accountable to the standards you have outlined?

Culture Isn’t Just What’s Written; It’s What We Experience

Guidebooks, standard operating procedures, and formal documentation (just a few of Jennifer’s favorite things) play an extremely important role in laying a foundation for the campus culture. However, culture is ultimately shaped by what people see, their experiences, and the behaviors that are accepted within the institution. When employees observe leaders failing to uphold the standards they promote, the culture does not just stagnate; it weakens. Inconsistency may signal insincerity, particularly when expectations appear to apply differently depending on role, status, or department. In this article, we aim to provide some real-world examples of how you can enhance the culture of your institution with action that goes beyond aspirational statements and ultimately make your institution a better place for employees to work and for your students to thrive.

It is essential to clearly define what culture means for your institution. More specifically, define the core values and beliefs that shape your campus environment so that employees and students know what to expect on campus. What are the expectations you, as a leadership team, have for those associated with your institution?

How Culture Is Learned on Campus

Consider the experience of a new employee. Do they learn your institution’s culture through orientation training alone, or through observing colleagues interact and communicate and how challenges are resolved around campus? More than likely, you realize that the majority of an institution’s culture is absorbed through experience, not training materials. This is all the more reason strong leaders move beyond the written words of culture and focus on building through action. While culture is strengthened through action, it can be undermined through inaction. Which actions are being accepted that do not align with your institution’s stated values? As the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”

When Spoken Values Misalign with Lived Experiences

Senior leaders may not always be aware of inconsistencies between the outlined culture in the guidebook and the overall vibe on campus, but frontline employees are often acutely aware of the disconnects. That is why communication is so important for senior leaders. Initiating conversations among the leadership team about culture is key, but these conversations must then extend to employees throughout campus in order to better understand how the culture is perceived. As leaders, we must also remain open to honest feedback to ensure we stay true to the values outlined in the guidebook.

The following are examples of values often found in a college guidebook. We outline examples of culture-damaging behaviors as well as positive alternatives that may assist in building a strong campus culture.

What We Say We Value

Where Misalignment Shows Up and Damages Culture Culture-Building Alternatives We are a student-centered institution. Budget constraints keep you from filling an academic advisor role, forcing the remaining advisors to manage double the caseload and slowing student response times. Be transparent about budget pressures and explain the “why.” Share with staff that a transfer counselor vacancy is temporarily frozen and outline a plan for student coverage with support from faculty mentors. Seek creative staffing solutions, and involve frontline staff in conversations about how to manage gaps. We value our employees.

Employee recognition is often limited to campus-wide meetings, and despite good intentions, senior leaders often seem inaccessible, leading employees to feel disconnected.

Consider sending out a survey to employees to identify how each person would like to be acknowledged. Encourage senior leaders to schedule time to walk around and connect with employees on a personal level. Making that human connection with others can enhance overall culture.

We believe in transparency and shared governance. Decisions are currently being made ahead of shared governance meetings. This makes employees feel the process is more performative and more like a checkbox rather than a formal process of shared decision-making.

Clearly state what level of input is being requested (inform, collaborate, decide). Share decision criteria upfront, be honest when input won’t influence the outcome, and be sure to close the loop with employees after a decision is made.

A Leader’s Impact

Ultimately, everyone contributes to the culture of an institution. Senior leaders, in particular, have a responsibility to reflect on their impact. Are your words and actions aligned with your institution’s values? Are you strengthening the employee and student experience or unintentionally diminishing it? Do employees feel heard, or have they stopped speaking up due to previous inaction? Are all members of the leadership team holding folks to the standards expected?

We imagine that no leadership team wants to feel that their staff has a case of the “Sunday scaries” before starting the next week. As you think about your campus culture, no matter how good or bad it may be right now, there is always an opportunity to enhance the experience of your employees and your students. Culture may start from the top, but it’s a shared responsibility throughout the institution.