This study addresses low organizational readiness for change at a U.S. multicampus higher education institution formed by a merger in 2010 between a liberal arts college and a professional graduate school. A needs assessment conducted in the spring of 2019 employed Cameron and Quinn’s (2011) competing values framework of organizational cultures and found that staff members across the two campuses desired more flexibility and discretion in their work. Semi-structured interviews with senior administrators also identified a tension between staff members’ desires and those of leadership: administrators felt that the institution would not become fully integrated until the graduate school was financially self-sustaining. To address this tension, an intervention program was delivered in the fall of 2020 to build innovation skills among staff members of the graduate campus. Using Ireland, Hitt, and Sirmon’s (2003) model of strategic entrepreneurship as a framework, the intervention sought to increase the entrepreneurial mindset of individuals to create long-term wealth for the institution. Eleven staff members participated in a twelve-week Innovation Mentors program. After learning about innovation principles, teams presented proposals to campus leadership addressing needs identified within the institution. A concurrent mixed methods design evaluated the process and outcomes of the intervention. Nine of the eleven initial participants successfully completed the program, and a comparison between pre- and post-program surveys indicated a statistically significant difference (p < .05) in participants’ knowledge of innovation principles. Participants appreciated working with and learning from colleagues in different job roles and from different departments across campus. During and after the program, many staff member participants began applying the innovation principles in their work and sharing what they learned with departmental colleagues. However, despite perceived support from campus leadership and managers, some staff members struggled to find the time and space to apply the innovation principles in their jobs
