NASH Improvement Communities
Creative Seismic Change in Higher Education
NASH Improvement Communities (NICs) are at the heart of NASH’s work in Improvement Science and have been instrumental in creating the methodology that is responsible for communities of practice where change is happening in big and small ways for participating systems and institutions. NASH Improvement Communities (NICs) are an intensive and dynamic approach to tackling the thorniest challenges within postsecondary institutions. The purpose is not merely to discuss or analyze problems, but to actively generate and implement innovations that lead to improvement, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within higher education systems and their campuses.
A Laser-Focused Community of Practice
NICs have a lot in common with professional groups like communities of practice. What sets NICs apart, though, is their laser-like focus on a very specific problem. While other groups come together because they share a common interest and want to learn from each other, NICs go a step further—they're built around achieving a specific, measurable goal together (called an aim). Rather than just sharing ideas, these action-oriented groups are focused on achieving specific results and are accountable for their outcomes.
Led by a Deep Understanding of the Problem and its Context
In education, improvement efforts often get tripped up by what we call “solutionitis”—jumping straight to solutions without really digging into what the actual problem is or how the local context might change things. NICs take a different approach. They start by carefully studying and deconstructing the problem and figuring out what’s driving it. From there, they build a clear strategy for improvement based on that understanding. This puts NIC participants in a better spot to evaluate different solutions—choosing the right ones, adjusting them when needed, or even coming up with new ones when nothing existing quite fits.
Rigorous Use of Improvement Science Methods
Core to the NIC experience is the use of improvement science methods, a discipline that is entirely focused on bridging the divide between the knowledge that something can work and knowledge of how to actually make it work reliably over diverse contexts and populations.
Rapid Testing, Embracing Failure and Implementing Results
Using the improvement science methodology, teams rapidly test their ideas in 45 day cycles on a small scale, generating just enough data to know whether to adapt, adopt, or abandon their change idea; then repeat. This process of sequential testing leads to interventions that work reliably at scale by the time they are implemented, given that all the failures were worked out during the testing phase. By the time teams are ready to spread the changes, we get changes that produce results at scale, without the chance of failure.
Decentralized Yet Highly Structured
NICs help everyone work toward the same goal, using shared ways to measure progress. It helps when everyone is working toward the same goal and has a common understanding of both the problem and how to tackle it. Clear, consistent methods keep everyone on the same page and focused. Being part of a NIC leads to knowledge sharing, making it easier to spread what’s working and put improvements into practice across the whole network.
Who participates in a NIC?
The heart of each NIC are campus teams who take on the challenge of improving the processes that lead to less-than-optimal outcomes. These teams are cross-functional groups of professionals who are committed to change and are leaders on their campus, paving the way forward for others to engage in improvement work. Importantly, campus team participants are often those closest to the problem of practice that the NIC aims to improve.
In addition, system leadership provides support and an additional view of the problem, allowing for innovations that emerge to spread faster and impact more campuses and students.
Why Do NICs Create Outsized Results?
When they’re set up and run the right way, NICs have some clear advantages over siloed improvement efforts or projects:
- They’re a great source of new ideas. Whatever the challenge, chances are someone in the NIC has already tested something and can share what they’ve learned. With so many different people involved, there’s a wide pool of experience and potential solutions to draw from.
- NICs include a variety of participants, for example, a wide diversity of institution types (R1, small regional, large HBCU, etc) which means new ideas can be tested in lots of different contexts. This is key to figuring out what really works—and how to make it work reliably in different contexts.
- The relationships built within NICs help speed things up. When people trust each other and value each other’s input, it’s easier to try out and spread effective practices.
- NICs create a supportive space where members can openly compare results. Since everyone’s using shared measures, it’s easier to see what’s working, what isn’t, and why. This kind of honest comparison helps drive progress and builds a sense of shared mission—if one team can succeed, others can too.
- Because NICs bring together a range of participants and data, they help uncover patterns that might be missed in isolated settings. Looking across the NIC makes it possible to spot trends, learn more deeply about persistent problems, and come up with smarter solutions.
Impact in Action
Over the past three years, NICs facilitated through the Center have delivered powerful outcomes.
In the case of our Transfer Student Success NIC:
- 86% of participating campuses saw year-over-year increases in transfer student enrollment, even as national trends lagged. Average ROI for campus teams ranges from 400%-1,200%, creating an unbelievable value for campuses
- To date, over 12 systems of higher education and 36 campuses have participated in the NIC
- Over 350 structured tests of change were conducted during the first two years of the NIC
- More than 174 administrators, professional staff, and faculty have participated in a NIC
- Teams report sharper focus, stronger cross-campus collaboration, and culture change within the teams and on campus, spilling over to other strategic work that the campuses are undertaking
This model is already transforming how institutions learn, lead, and deliver for students.
What to Expect When Participating in a NIC
12 month intensive experience that includes:
- Coaching from a NASH Improvement Coach dedicated to each team
- Participation in two in-person workshops, four virtual workshops, and a virtual learning symposium during the program year
- Coaching from the Improvement Coach on the team’s action plans, PDSA documentation, and other issues as they arise, including standing office hours for additional assistance
- High-Touch Project Management: bi-weekly check-ins with the Improvement Coach, email reminders, shared drive, etc.
- Professional Development: Six sessions focused on the fundamentals of improvement science
Get Started on Your Improvement Journey Today
To contact the center or join a NIC, use the form linked below.