The 5 reasons good ideas stall at a college
What's probably going on, and what's usually driving it.
Why good projects get stuck, and what you can do by Monday.
Find out what's actually in the way, in about 2 minutes.
For Deans, Directors and Vice Presidents with an initiative that keeps stalling.
From the Dean who led the launch of Pace+, the first federally approved Direct Assessment CBE degree in the California Community Colleges.
What's inside
A 2-minute check to find yours
Answer a few questions and see what's holding you up.
One thing you can do by Monday
One quick idea to get things moving.
I've been there.
I'm Dr. Shelly Blair, founder of Educated Guess Consulting (EGC). I've been a faculty member, a dean, and a consultant, and I've heard "they'll never go for it" in every one of those jobs.
I spent nine years teaching communication at San Diego State, Texas A&M, and Saint Louis University in Madrid, then three years in organizational development at Toastmasters International, where I learned how planned change actually moves through an organization. In 2017 I came back to education as Dean of Innovative Learning and Career Education at Coastline College, a job I held for eight years.
The work I'm best known for is Pace+, the first USDOE-approved direct assessment competency-based degree in the California Community College system. I wrote the grant that started it, the ACCJC application that other colleges now use as a model, and the Title IV application to the Department of Education. We did it while the rules were still being written. After I left Coastline, the district asked me back to develop and negotiate a new labor model to support the DA CBE program. Pace+ launched in 2025, a testament to both the groundwork I laid and the team's ability to carry that vision forward. That is the kind of lasting impact I aim to create.
My PhD is in communication with a focus on organizational development, and I am an educator first. Since 2024, EGC has supported the implementation of complex, student-centered ideas at colleges and districts in California and Oregon, such as Competency-Based Education, Credit for Prior Learning, shared governance redesign, and regulatory strategy. You and your team lead the effort. I work behind the scenes with the frameworks, the coaching, and the regulatory map, and I step back as your team takes it over. Try the Monday steps first. When you want company for the next six months, I'm easy to find.
Shelly Blair, PhD
Founder & Principal Consultant, Educated Guess Consulting
"Simply put, we would not have launched this program without her."
Dean, California community college
Find out what's actually in the way.
Free. About 2 minutes to check, and one thing you can do by Monday.