Department of Organization and Leadership

TEACHERS COLLEGE

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ORGANIZATION AND LEADERSHIP

William Pasmore

Professor of Practice

Program in Social-Organizational Psychology

Thanks for your interest in serving as a partner/client with us.Practicum in Organizational Change and Consultation is a course offered to both Masters and PhD students in the Social-Organizational Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. The course is intended to provide students with hands-on experience in conducting consultation in organization development and change.

We work with organizations that may need help with the development and execution of their strategy, organization design, talent issues such as onboarding or leadership development, and culture change. Our students are early-career professionals preparing for positions with major consulting firms like McKinsey or Deloitte or careers as change professionals within corporations or non-profits. We find working with startups particularly rewarding as how a firm establishes its culture and ways of working in its early years tends to remain in place as it grows. These early decisions have a major impact on how easy or difficult it is to scale up once the organization enters the “hockey stick” period of growth.

Most students take course at the end of the mastersprogram or close to the end of the doctoral program as it is an integrative course and builds on learning in earlier parts of the curriculum. The students who will work with you are ready to embark on their professional careers.

The course meets twice a week on Monday and Wednesday evenings. For the most part, students work with you at times that are convenient for your schedule. We would like you to visit us during a regular class period early in the semester to understand your challenges and what you would like to accomplish with our help. We would also appreciate it if you could attend a class near the end of the semester to review your experience of working with us. In between, the schedule is up to you and your student consultants.

Typically, students will interview or survey members of your organization to get their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities you face. Based on that, they will work collaboratively with you to fashion an action plan to address the priorities you decide are the most important.

Previous clients have found working with the class to be a worthwhile, and students consistently rank it as one of the most important courses in their program. We do everything possible to insure that it is a productive learning experience for all involved.

Thanks again for considering this opportunity. We look forward to the possibility of having you work with the Practicum class on this project.

Best regards,

William Pasmore

Professor of Practice

Department of Organization & Leadership

Teachers College, Columbia University

New York, NY 10027

Cell: 336 549 5153

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