Institutional Whiplash: Challenges and Critical Ingredients for Rapid Change at Arizona State University

The complexities and uncertainties associated with the rapid and dramatic changes humanity is facing lead us to question if our educational, social, political and economic institutions are equipped to help society meet these challenges.  Innovative and flexible institutions that can adjust in anticipation of, or in rapid response to these changes are the best positioned to be of optimal service to society.  This is perhaps especially true of our institutions of higher learning. The Arizona State University (ASU) is recognized amongst U.S. universities as a leader in Sustainability Education, Research, Solutions, and Campus Operations.  In 2003 ASU had a traditional research “Center for Environmental Studies.” Four brief years later, in 2007 it launched the Global Institute of Sustainability and its degree-granting School of Sustainability, first of its kind in the U.S. Today its research, education and operations are a thriving example for others. The author, who led its design, formation and establishment on behalf of the university leadership, recounts the journey that propelled ASU from relative obscurity to international prominence in the field of sustainability.  An early task was to define the sustainability mission of the institution, and the breadth and scope of what would become its program. A number of early decisions shaped the institution to what it is today.  Amongst these is that ASU decided to be comprehensive in its mission. That is, to simultaneously dedicate itself to a) the creation of new knowledge and technologies, b) arrive at research‐based solution options to the most salient of sustainability challenges, c) teach the next generation of business, government and university leaders, and d) reduce the environmental footprint of our university campus operations. With the explicit, active, and ongoing commitment by the University President, challenges faced were overcome.  Approaches to remove these barriers are addressed, and critical ingredients to the success of this institutional transformation are identified.