Transformation Powered by the Institutional Transformation Assessment (ITA)
Authors: Katie Locke, Brandon Smith, and David Brightman
Publication Date: 2025
Format: PDF
Lay the GroundworkStart the ProcessSharpen the FocusAct with PurposeSustain and Evolve
Advising ReformDevelopmental Education ReformOther Holistic Supports
Catalytic LeadershipStrategic Data UseOther Capacities
Mid-Level LeadersSenior Leaders
All Institution Types
This series of case studies from the Gardner Institute illustrates how institutional transformation is shaped and continuously refined through application of findings from the Institutional Transformation Assessment (ITA). Each example shows how colleges and universities used ITA data to inform reflection, guide decision-making, and align leadership and strategy around equity-centered student success. Collectively, the case studies reveal how institutions translate insight into sustained improvement to turn data, dialogue, and collaboration into systemic transformation.
Connections to the Transformation Journey
and How Institutions Transform
Stages of Transformation
Lay the GroundworkStart the ProcessSharpen the FocusAct with PurposeSustain and Evolve
- Lay the Groundwork: These case studies demonstrate how institutional leaders built urgency for change by using ITA insights to assess readiness, engage stakeholders, and communicate the case for transformation across the campus community.
- Start the Process: Leaders set strategy in motion by clarifying priorities drawn from ITA results, engaging key partners, and aligning student success efforts around a shared vision and coordinated approach.
- Sharpen the Focus: Teams analyzed ITA findings to identify barriers to student success, define the ideal student experience, and use evidence to guide decisions that strengthened outcomes.
- Act with Purpose: Institutions applied ITA findings to implement evidence-based practices, strengthen advising and developmental education, and redesign structures that promote long-term success.
- Sustain and Evolve: To sustain change, presidents and senior leaders revisited ITA findings annually to monitor progress, recalibrate goals, and embed reflection and continuous improvement into institutional culture.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Evidence-Based Practices
Advising ReformDevelopmental Education ReformOther Holistic Supports
- Advising Reform: Some of the case studies in this series outline how ITA results led to student-centered advising redesign efforts to better support the academic journey from entry to completion.
- Developmental Education Reform: Some of the case studies describe the changes made to developmental education and gateway courses as a result of the ITA process. These reforms can dramatically improve student outcomes, helping them stay on a credit-earning path, reduce their time to completion, and improve overall success.
- Holistic Supports: Several of the case studies highlight how ITA results led to changes and innovations to student support offerings, particularly, efforts to improve FYE programs. Improvements to student support programs, when thoughtfully designed and embedded as essential elements of the student experience, foster belonging, well-being, and long-term persistence.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Core Institutional Capacities
Catalytic LeadershipStrategic Data UseOther Capacities
- Catalytic Leadership: These case studies illustrate the importance of strategic, inclusive, momentum building leaders at every level of the institution. They build urgency, empower teams, and align people, resources, and culture to make lasting change possible. The ITA supports this capacity by encouraging survey participation from all units at an institution.
- Strategic Data Use: These case studies highlight why strategic data use is imperative for equitable student success. Data-informed approaches help institutions build systems, skills, and habits that turn insights into action – embedding data into planning, practice, and performance to create cultures where information is used ethically, consistently, and effectively.
- Other Capacities: This case study illustrates the importance of strategic partnerships. The services offered by the Gardner Institute provided structure and guidance for FSU’s transformation journey.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Continuous Improvement
This resource is most relevant to the following cross-functional roles:
- Senior Leaders: Across the case studies, senior leaders played a decisive role in sustaining institutional transformation. Presidents and provosts built urgency for change, set a clear vision, and ensured that student success remained a shared institutional priority. Their visible commitment and consistent communication created the conditions for collaboration, while their decisions around structure and resources provided the infrastructure necessary to maintain momentum over time.
- Mid-Level Leaders: Mid-level leaders were pivotal in translating strategy into action. They led cross-functional teams, integrated ITA findings into daily operations, and bridged the work of senior leadership and frontline practitioners. By coordinating implementation and modeling data-informed reflection, mid-level leaders sustained progress and embedded continuous improvement into the institution’s culture.
This resource connects to the following phase(s) of the PRPAM framework:
- Prepare: Institutions used the ITA to assess readiness and build awareness of equity gaps.
- Reflect: Teams analyzed findings to surface challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Prioritize: Leaders identified the highest-impact actions aligned with institutional strategy.
- Act: Institutions implemented reforms grounded in ITA data and cross-functional collaboration.
- Monitor: Regular re-administration of the ITA allowed campuses to track progress, refine strategy, and sustain improvement over time.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Stages of Transformation
Lay the GroundworkStart the ProcessSharpen the FocusAct with PurposeSustain and Evolve
- Lay the Groundwork: These case studies demonstrate how institutional leaders built urgency for change by using ITA insights to assess readiness, engage stakeholders, and communicate the case for transformation across the campus community.
- Start the Process: Leaders set strategy in motion by clarifying priorities drawn from ITA results, engaging key partners, and aligning student success efforts around a shared vision and coordinated approach.
- Sharpen the Focus: Teams analyzed ITA findings to identify barriers to student success, define the ideal student experience, and use evidence to guide decisions that strengthened outcomes.
- Act with Purpose: Institutions applied ITA findings to implement evidence-based practices, strengthen advising and developmental education, and redesign structures that promote long-term success.
- Sustain and Evolve: To sustain change, presidents and senior leaders revisited ITA findings annually to monitor progress, recalibrate goals, and embed reflection and continuous improvement into institutional culture.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Evidence-Based Practices
Advising ReformDevelopmental Education ReformOther Holistic Supports
- Advising Reform: Some of the case studies in this series outline how ITA results led to student-centered advising redesign efforts to better support the academic journey from entry to completion.
- Developmental Education Reform: Some of the case studies describe the changes made to developmental education and gateway courses as a result of the ITA process. These reforms can dramatically improve student outcomes, helping them stay on a credit-earning path, reduce their time to completion, and improve overall success.
- Holistic Supports: Several of the case studies highlight how ITA results led to changes and innovations to student support offerings, particularly, efforts to improve FYE programs. Improvements to student support programs, when thoughtfully designed and embedded as essential elements of the student experience, foster belonging, well-being, and long-term persistence.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Core Institutional Capacities
Catalytic LeadershipStrategic Data UseOther Capacities
- Catalytic Leadership: These case studies illustrate the importance of strategic, inclusive, momentum building leaders at every level of the institution. They build urgency, empower teams, and align people, resources, and culture to make lasting change possible. The ITA supports this capacity by encouraging survey participation from all units at an institution.
- Strategic Data Use: These case studies highlight why strategic data use is imperative for equitable student success. Data-informed approaches help institutions build systems, skills, and habits that turn insights into action – embedding data into planning, practice, and performance to create cultures where information is used ethically, consistently, and effectively.
- Other Capacities: This case study illustrates the importance of strategic partnerships. The services offered by the Gardner Institute provided structure and guidance for FSU’s transformation journey.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Continuous Improvement
This resource is most relevant to the following cross-functional roles:
- Senior Leaders: Across the case studies, senior leaders played a decisive role in sustaining institutional transformation. Presidents and provosts built urgency for change, set a clear vision, and ensured that student success remained a shared institutional priority. Their visible commitment and consistent communication created the conditions for collaboration, while their decisions around structure and resources provided the infrastructure necessary to maintain momentum over time.
- Mid-Level Leaders: Mid-level leaders were pivotal in translating strategy into action. They led cross-functional teams, integrated ITA findings into daily operations, and bridged the work of senior leadership and frontline practitioners. By coordinating implementation and modeling data-informed reflection, mid-level leaders sustained progress and embedded continuous improvement into the institution’s culture.
This resource connects to the following phase(s) of the PRPAM framework:
- Prepare: Institutions used the ITA to assess readiness and build awareness of equity gaps.
- Reflect: Teams analyzed findings to surface challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Prioritize: Leaders identified the highest-impact actions aligned with institutional strategy.
- Act: Institutions implemented reforms grounded in ITA data and cross-functional collaboration.
- Monitor: Regular re-administration of the ITA allowed campuses to track progress, refine strategy, and sustain improvement over time.
Learn more about the Transformation Journey and How Institutions Transform.
Recommended Citation: Locke, K., Smith, B., and Brightman, D. (Eds.) (2025). Transformation powered by the Institutional Transformation Assessment (ITA). The Gardner Institute.
