The change architects: reimagining centers for teaching and learning as catalysts for 21st-century higher education transformation

Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) function as pivotal change agents in higher education, yet their transformative role remains empirically underexamined. This study investigates how CTLs function as transformation agents in Israeli higher education, examining their strategic approaches, resistance mitigation strategies, and sustainable implementation methodologies. Through qualitative analysis of data from 45 participants, including 31 current CTL directors representing diverse institutional types (research universities, academic colleges, education colleges, and private institutions), the research reveals complex change management paradigms that challenge conventional organizational change theories. The study introduces the CTL Change Implementation Framework (CCLIF), integrating environmental forces, institutional context, and implementation phases. This empirically validated framework demonstrates how CTLs orchestrate institutional transformation through ’middle-out’ change processes despite lacking formal authority. Our findings reveal distinct patterns of strategic positioning, cultural navigation, and sustainability mechanisms across institutional types, with successful CTLs developing ‘networked legitimacy’ through relationships spanning organizational hierarchies. The framework explains how CTLs effectively balance top-down strategic directives with bottom-up faculty engagement while adapting implementation approaches to institutional context. The findings advance theoretical conceptualizations of change management in academic settings while offering evidence-based implementation strategies for higher education transformation in resource-constrained environments.