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Summer is a busy time for us here at one45. Most of our residency programs start up in July, and our undergraduate programs start up in July, August, and September. One thing that can make this time of year particularly busy and stressful for our client schools is if they’re in the process of rolling out a new curriculum. Sometimes rolling out a new curriculum goes well and sometimes it doesn’t. I think that the best curriculum renewals use a critical principle to help them achieve success: designing vs. doing.
Curriculum renewal always starts with design. Designing the structure and content of a new curriculum is often a very creative and energizing process for everyone. Programs that are just starting to envision a new curriculum are always excited to be creating something new.
This excitement doesn’t always last. As the picture of the new curriculum starts to take shape, the creative process can stall as everyone starts to see the amount of work that remains to be done. At this critical stage, people often start to just do. Meetings become tedious. Gathering data and objectives starts to feel like pulling teeth. People who used to love coming to meetings to discuss the what-if’s of the new curriculum are now too busy just trying to get their deliverables in on time.
I would argue that this slow down is not an inevitable part of creating a new curriculum – it simply highlights a lack of design. Curriculum committees can design robust, fun processes not just for planning the curriculum, but also for completing deliverables on time, keeping track of details, keeping meetings exciting, and all other components of the curriculum renewal process.
One critical area that is often overlooked is roll out. The best curriculum renewals I’ve seen always have a well designed roll out plan to make the process easy for everyone: students, faculty, administrators, and any other stakeholders.
So, the next time you’re planning out a curriculum renewal, ask yourself: what are all of the elements of this process we need to consider? Then, design each one with an eye towards your school’s mission and keeping it fun and energizing for everyone. Spend as much time designing the processes around your curriculum renewal as you do on the curriculum design itself, and you’ll be sure to have better results and a less stressful summer!
