ORGANIZATIONAL-DEVELOPMENT OF A UNIVERSITY-BASED INTERDISCIPLINARY HEALTH PROMOTION PROJECT

Purpose. To analyze the organizational development and implementation of an interdisciplinary health promotion project at the University of New Mexico. The effort involved three academic units in a 3-year exter nally funded project to institutionalize health promotion curricula in the respective schools and to develop a wellness-oriented service for students,. faculty, and staff. Methods. The open systems theory was u sed as a framework to analyze the organizational and rob issues that e merged from the data collected through interviews, staff surveys, and document review. The analysis is summarized by five thematic questions : (1) How did the project's vision affect its development? (2) How was leadership enacted, and with what effect? (3) What were the organizat ional issues for the staff? (4) What were the interdisciplinary dilemm as? (5) What was instituted or changed as a result of the project? Res ults, The analysis uncovered a series of interpersonal and organizatio nal dilemmas involving the nature of the organizational environment, t he character of interdisciplinary work leadership, boundaries of group membership and the structuring of a unified vision. Conclusions. Futu re projects should consider the strength and stability of the boundary spanners, the resource context, and the rob of a unified vision for n ew and organizationally linked units as key issues in facilitating and sustaining change.