Meaningful changes cannot happen if leadership does not provide the support to create a systematic, cohesive approach. Innovative approaches, too often, produce an extinguisher effect and try to combine a variety of innovations that relate to multiple visions. Since faculty and staff rarely work together to combine ideas and disseminate the best approach across different arenas, the separate efforts exert minimal effects. Because positive effects in new initiatives take a long time to flourish in higher education, administration needs to disseminate the trust to those leaders at the campus or department level who can lead the initiatives and ensure that they are sustained. .
Faculty find it difficult to obtain support to develop an initiative a priority that needs resources and staff support. Although faculty are encouraged to create new initiatives, they are expected to do it without financial resource allocation nor reduction in expenditures. Faculty are expected to work on new projects during their own time but faculty feel discouraged to do so because they are well aware of previous attempts have had limited support in allowing the project to flourish. When a new course is implemented, it takes time to reach the desired enrollment; therefore, the course is canceled and the new initiative is lost. At times, the end of a semester paralyzes a project, even if it is only temporary, so the momentum is lost and delays the outcome. .
When leadership changes or priorities shift, ideas are lost. One hears faculty too often say, "We have done that before or here we go again." Faculty vision rarely changes while administration's focus may at times not align with faculty efforts. One administrator may be supportive, but he or she leaves and a new one may not have the same goal. Too often, faculty return from summer break to find that the administrator who supported the project is no longer in that capacity.
