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Paper Title (Arial 20 Bold) Dr. Kathy Cowan Sahadath, Case Consulting and Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, George Brown College, ACMP Global Conference, April 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada. Page | 1 The Waterfront Campus Project at George Brown College: Positioning for the Future by Dr. Kathy Cowan Sahadath, Case Consulting Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, George Brown College Dr. Kathy Cowan Sahadath, Case Consulting and Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, George Brown College, ACMP Global Conference, April 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada. Page | 2 Executive overview In the summer of 2012, George Brown College (GBC) will be relocating approximately 230 full-time faculty and staff, 3500 full time students representing four schools within the Centre for Health Sciences (School of Dental Health, School of Health and Wellness, School of Heath Services Management, and School of Nursing), to the George Brown College Waterfront Health Sciences Campus. As the largest College Centre for Health Sciences program in the Province of Ontario, Canada, its move from two significant sites across Toronto to a purpose-built facility in the East Bayfront area is in itself a large undertaking. In parallel, the school is embarking on a multi-year initiative to incorporate Inter- professional Education (IPE) into their Health Sciences programs. Inter-professional Education involves learning about, from and with other disciplines while learning in areas of common interest in the practice of Health Care. GBC is enabling graduates to be successful collaborators in Health Care practice with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes. This cultural change toward interdisciplinary learning and teaching is a reflection of the demand in the Health Sciences professions for a more collaborative approach to the delivery of Health Care. This vision is best expressed by the college: To create a single site Centre for Health Sciences building that embraces an inter-professional learning education framework with an emphasis on health & wellness To create an environment that is vital and innovative for future generations of students The move to the Waterfront Campus will be a key enabler for IPE at George Brown College. The new campus will bring together corporate and academic departments with both current and new staff who have previously not worked in the same location before. It will bring together four schools consisting of the School of Dental Health, School of Health and Wellness, School of Heath Services Management, and School of Nursing to be at the forefront of future Health Care. And it will also create an open work environment that will encourage many of the faculty and staff out of their private offices and into a large collaborative and inter-disciplinary workspace. The change is significant and groundbreaking. Background: The George Brown College Health Sciences Vision Health Care has experienced many changes over the last few decades, including advances in technology, diagnostic procedures, surgical methodologies and shorter hospital stays. Some of the changes have been very positive, while others would argue that the system has not gone far enough. At GBC, the vision formulated in 2003 identified the need for a more inter-professional education model to support an improved collaborative approach to Health Care delivery. Many of the concerns expressed by both Health Care providers and patients have been the lack of a comprehensive system that addresses Health Care from an integrated perspective. That is, a system that does not work in silos but one that can deliver a seamless array of services from prevention and promotion to primary care to hospital, to community, and to home. There has been a failure to meet the huge demand for home care services which has left the system further stressed; families feeling over-burdened and a lack of qualified Health Care practitioners to provide these services. In his report Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in Canada (2002), Roy Romanow referred to the need for investing in more and differently-trained Health Care providers. The report goes on to say that there is a “crisis” in the Health Care workforce as numbers are decreasing while the demand is increasing. In addition, the report talks about the need to review how Health Care providers are trained and suggests moving from traditional profession-focused education to a more “patient-centred” approach. This approach places an emphasis on team-based learning and understanding of the importance Dr. Kathy Cowan Sahadath, Case Consulting and Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, George Brown College, ACMP Global Conference, April 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada. Page | 3 of “multidisciplinary teams and networks of providers working together to address patients’ health needs” (Romanow, 2002). In response to these new challenges and this sense of urgency in the Health Care system, George Brown College has become a leader in driving this change. “ In view of changing trends, corresponding changes must be made in the way Health Care providers are educated and trained. If Health Care providers are expected to work together and share expertise in a team environment, it makes sense that their education and training should prepare them for this type of working arrangement. ” (Romanow, 2002) Project Overview and First Steps This case study identifies three distinct phases to this major change initiative and highlights the change management activities that are supporting two key areas – the increase in student enrollment through development of a variety of post diploma/degree courses and pathways, as well as enhanced curriculum that emphasizes team-based and system-wide care. GBC’s continued advancement presents both challenges and opportunities. To meet the growing need and demand for the Centre for Health Sciences, the College has undertaken the creation of a 320,000 square foot campus housing the Centre for Health Sciences located within the East Bayfront area of the City of Toronto. Currently, GBC’s Centre for Health Sciences is one of the largest programs in the community college system within the Province of Ontario in terms of student enrolment. It is estimated that the new campus will service approximately 3500 full- time students, with approximately 230 full- time academic faculty and staff, with an additional 50 corporate staff. This campus will be based on an inter- professional and integrated model of student learning and a new collaborative way of working together. Students will learn from qualified faculty in an exceptional inter- professional learning environment that meets the sector’s highest standards including the external professional associations that accredit the educational programs. The campus will bring together corporate and academic departments, with both current and new staff, who have previously not worked in the same location, and will create an open work environment. This will be a new experience for faculty and staff, half of whom are currently housed in private offices and the majority of whom are housed with or near staff from their own programs. The Project and Leadership Governance The three phases to this project included advancing the vision through a lengthy process of developing, shaping and implementing the IPE curriculum and involving staff collaborating in new ways; secondly, the planning and design process addressing funding and approvals for a new campus to accomplish the vision; and finally focusing on the people readiness and move requirements associated with transitioning to this new campus and the new culture. While implementing this significant transformation, and given the complexity of the Waterfront Campus initiative, the leadership team recognized the need for a proven, mature project management methodology, effective communications and change management plans as well as employee engagement and clear management accountabilities. This integrated approach to change involved the alignment of relevant combinations of people, processes, policies, practices, strategies and systems at GBC. One of the leading contributors to project success was strong, visible sponsorship and leadership. In the early stages of the project, there was an opportunity to build a Dr. Kathy Cowan Sahadath, Case Consulting and Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, George Brown College, ACMP Global Conference, April 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada. Page | 4 foundation for managing the change that would help mitigate the impact of the changes on both the staff and the organization. Two co- project sponsors, the Vice-President of Corporate Services, and the Assistant Vice- President, Waterfront Development and Dean, Community Services and Health Sciences reported to the President of George Brown College and provided this critical sponsorship and leadership, articulating and communicating the vision throughout all phases of the project. The leaders’ roles were well articulated from the start. The Assistant Vice-President Waterfront Development took on the primary role of bringing both the corporate divisions including, Information Technology, Facilities, Student Affairs, and Business Services together with the Academic leaders to create and design the new campus. In addition, the same players continued to collaborate and in turn prepared their staff for the new space, further ensuring their commitment. These leaders all benefited from the process, and the change management principles helped guide their meetings, conversations and communication strategies. The key change management challenge was to keep the leadership team involved, aligned and communicating about the project, and ensure that they were prepared to deal with concerns across the college. Two separate but connecting teams, the Construction and Design/Structural Advisory Team created in Phase 2 and the Operational Readiness Chairs Committee created in Phase 3 and their governance structures, both reporting to the Waterfront Steering Committee and chaired by the President, provided oversight and governance to ensure alignment and inclusiveness of all groups, academic and non-academic. The Chairs of the Operational Readiness Committees ensured that key issues raised by the respective committees were addressed and that there was continuity across committees. The Waterfront Campus Governance Structure was a unique approach to ensure school interests and program success were met. Operational Readiness Governance included: Change Management Advisory Physical Move Professional Development and Training Integrated Student Services Internal Communication External Communications/Marketing Safety and Security Business Services In addition to the attention to operational readiness, the Construction and Design/Structural teams were also supported by a number of teams created to ensure success of the overall GBC Waterfront Campus Project. The committees collectively worked to establish linkages between functional departments (academic and corporate) and other project committees including the Construction Advisory Team, Relocation Consultants, and various internal GBC departments. Expected challenges The project teams anticipated a number of potential issues that were to be addressed in the change management strategy, including: Potential negative impact to the personal lives of faculty and staff resulting from new commuting patterns, routes, and modes or lack thereof. Concerns from some faculty and staff about changes to daily work routines and relocation from an office to an open space workspace environment. Managing the integration of corporate and academic functions and work environments. Managing the integration of Health Sciences programs delivery. Dr. Kathy Cowan Sahadath, Case Consulting and Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, George Brown College, ACMP Global Conference, April 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada. Page | 5 Establishing business process changes and ensuring adoption of new policies and procedures. Managing cultural changes that will arise from the amalgamation of smaller, more intimate programs located at different sites into a larger more integrated Centre working side by side in the same space. Managing work dynamics as individuals’ spheres of influences, privileges, working relationships, and neighborly interactions are unsettled and then redefined. Change management was recognized by the sponsors in the early stages of the project and addressed in many ways. Developing an early communication strategy, working closely with academic staff in addressing the needed changes and incorporating them in the initial project design were the first steps to foster support for the vision and expected changes. Phase 1 set the foundation for a number of innovative opportunities and interventions to build the case for change. Examples included renovating space for pilot collaboration and interactive use of learning technologies, creating newly integrated curriculum with faculty members from across departments and organizational governance changes to a single director for the Centre for Health Sciences. By the time the funding was needed for Phase 2, the case for change was