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Envisioning curriculum redesign: A framework to enable faculty agency, fidelity, and action for a culture change
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Envisioning curriculum redesign: A framework to enable faculty agency, fidelity, and action for a culture change

M. Lindell Joseph, Anita Nicholson, Daniel J. Crawford and Ann Weltin
Journal of professional nursing, Vol.67, pp.17-24
11/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.profnurs.2026.07.029

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Abstract

To redesign the undergraduate and graduate curricula within a College of Nursing, we developed a conceptual framework grounded in faculty agency, curriculum fidelity, knowing-in-action, reflection-in-action, and collaborative decision-making with administration. This approach represented a significant cultural shift—from an administratively driven model to a more inclusive, faculty-led process. The redesign was inherently political, requiring negotiation of evolving roles, redistribution of authority, and careful relationship management. The resulting Conceptual Framework for Curriculum Redesign (CFCR) was developed in response to the nursing profession's call for innovative educational models. While such frameworks are recognized for promoting consistency and advancing nursing knowledge across programs, few are supported by clearly articulated conceptual foundations. To ensure fidelity in both the development and implementation of the redesign, we employed six interrelated phases: Exploring, Communicating, Reflecting, Envisioning, Discovering, and Hardwiring. Each phase included targeted activities aligned with its purpose, for example, conducting a comprehensive literature review, building consensus among faculty and administrators, launching faculty development initiatives, forming a student-led PhD-DNP task force, and finalizing new syllabi. The outcome of this co-designed, iterative process was the approval of 120 syllabi and the cultivation of a renewed culture of academic ownership, innovation, and shared governance. •There is limited research on faculty agency in curriculum.•A conceptual framework was developed and used for a cultural shift—from an administratively driven model to a more inclusive, faculty-led process.•Curriculum redesign in higher education is inherently political, requiring negotiation of evolving roles, redistribution of authority, and careful relationship management.•To redesign and achieve outcomes, we used strategies such as design thinking, backward design, workshop attendance, stakeholder, and student feedback.
 Conceptual framework Curriculum Fidelity Curriculum redesign Faculty agency Outcomes Reflection-in-action Shared governance

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