Institutions need to respond to changes in demographics and rapidly evolving technologies to major policy shifts and the emergence of new competitors.  We bring knowledge of trends in the field and experience writing about and studying institutions and organizations—from research universities to nonprofits, broadcasting networks to cultural agencies—that transform their own fields. CW helps longstanding and new organizations develop plans that help them “own” the most important issues and reposition themselves for a new era. We help identify the organization’s position, identify new directions in the field, reassert their influence, plan new agendas and thought leadership roles, and launch new initiatives.

Organizational Change

Recently, we worked with AdvanceEd, the world’s largest education accreditor and school improvement organization, to announce its merger with the assessment company Measured Progress to become Cognia which serves over 35,000 educational institutions worldwide. Cognia is working to combine its expertise in measuring what makes school successful and individual learning to identify the relationship between quality of schooling and improvement in student performance. We have helped Cognia determine key priorities in research that would be most beneficial to the field and write and edit articles for national publicatons and for its online magazine, The Source, to become a source of thought leadership.  We also regularly write case studies and white papers demonstrating how schools can continually improve and address their blindspots in areas from governance, teaching and learning, use of resources, and other areas.

In recent years, CW has developed a specific new expertise that is a sign of the times—working with colleges and universities who are being forced to consolidate programs, merge with other institutions or even close.  Most recently, we supported a major nonprofit university system announce two major acquisitions, several campus consolidations and reorganizations, and a college closing.  While each situation is unique, we work with the university or nonprofit to develop the communications plans and to develop communications tools and web content to inform all audiences, including students, staff, faculty, alumni, local communities, and the media.

Demographic Change

Shifting demographics are having a large impact on our educational institutions and our workforce and we have worked with several organizations focused on meeting the needs of these new populations.  In education, we have worked with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in the release of their Knocking at the College Door report, which projects the changing demographics of high school graduates.  We have worked with Excelencia in Education to highlight the needs of the increasing numbers of Latino students in our colleges and universities.  And over the last year, we have worked with the Data for the American Dream initiative to highlight the impact of the economy, education and employment systems on Black and Latino communities.

Technological Change

We also have significant experience addressing the impact of emerging technologies in education including work with the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education and Achieving the Dream on a wide range of Open Educational Resources initiatives.  We are currently supporting the Every Learner Everywhere network, an initiative focused on using new technologies to improve teaching and learning, particularly for low-income students and students of color.

Systemic Change

We also continue to work with national experts on helping institutions and organizations define the future of their enterprise. Most recently, we are working with one of the nation’s foremost experts on higher education, Arthur Levine, to shape the content and release his new book, The Great Upheaval: Higher Education's Past, Present, and Uncertain Future, including organizing media tours, working with Levine to draft op-ed pieces about the book, and setting up speaking opportunities.