Strategies and Recommendations in a Time of Ongoing Organizational Change

The State of the College Union, Part Two

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a year-long, four-part series entitled The State of the College Union that looks to analyze the most current and affecting issues facing ACUI’s members. The second part in the series, written by Ian Crone and Hank Walter, focuses on another of the most significant issues facing both student affairs and higher education: How to prepare for and thrive during periods of organizational change. Following the discussion of workforce retention in Part 1, and this examination of organizational change, the final two issues will focus on fostering belonging in the student union space, and a look at revenue challenges and drivers.

It was late in 2023 when Wisconsin Public Radio reported on student reaction to an announcement that nearly 220 staff and faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh would either be laid-off or asked to take early retirement. Despite administrative assurances that the cuts would “have minimal impact on students and student success,” the news report recounted students’ observations of “we’re losing mentors,” and “we are losing things we absolutely took for granted.” Former members of the Oshkosh Reeve Union team, which lost 10 of 12 professional staff to the cuts, recalled advocating for the importance of the union and working to meet the changing needs of the institution, all while dealing with the stress of waiting for the announcement of how deep the cuts would be. Reflecting on the personal toll on the Reeve Union staff of the period leading up to the cuts, as well as the organizational change itself, Missy Burgess, the former associate director for student involvement, noted that, “People do not fear change; they fear being changed.”