OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I first heard about Covid-19 as a freshman in college. My innitial goal was to run track
for ASU as a decathlete and become a physical therapist. The events that unfolded in the
wake of covid 19 led me to a change of plans. I did not enjoy online learning as mucha as
in person. I found my online labs to be particularly difficult to learn from. The track
season was cancelled because of Covid and Pole vault gym I was training at closed.
After a year of online college I was convinced that I would not stay in school long
enough to become a doctorate, let alone a four year degree. I talked with an academic
advisor about my options and the decision was made to change my major to project
management and avoid online labs. That decision kept me in school however, not on the
original path I hoped to follow.

2) Describe how the structure of the organization influenced the situation.

The structure of Arizona State University is such that their decisions are heavily
influenced by the state and federal government. Being a State university they rely on
funding form the government for vasious needs and can therefore be influenced by
government decisions very easily. ASU also has a very large campus with a student body
from all over the world. Knowing this likely made ASU management feel extra worried
about the potential spread of Covid-19 on campus.

ASUs structure allowed them to transition fairly easy to online and hybrid type classes
where they already had a large online list of majors available. Priding themselves on
innovation, ASU was able to rely on research facilities already in place to create saliva
tests. Perhaps the pride in this accomplishment gave management the feeling that they
had the power to enforce manadatory testing. The structure of ASU is such that the
students hold little power and have little say in matter such as Covid 19

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 Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.

The main think I would have don’t to structure an alternative course of action
would be to give students more of a voice. When it comes to political issues with highly
charged and polarized opionios there is rarely and give and take by whoever is in charge.
The university management made decisions that heavily impacted the student experience
at ASU without considering what the students wanted. Perhaps management felt it was
their duty to keep all students from meeting in person to not risk the spread but from my
discussions with students and staff there were absoulutely people that were willing to and
would have rathered stay on campus,
Allowing students to voice their opinions more would have helped ASU
management make decisions surrounding campus closeres, The structure of the
organization may have still required lockdown because of political influence but at least
the students would have felt heard by the school. Simply knowing this would have made
a mental and emotional approciation for ASU by students who share my opinions.

3) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

Reflecting on my situation through the structural frame I have learned how to treat secific
scenarios. I think that given the structure of ASU my actions alone would not have
changed the outcome of ASUs decisions regarding Covid-19. If I wanted to have a bigger
impact I would have had to find more voices similar to mine and take them to ASU
management. However, I do not think I would do this even knowing what I know now.

While the challenges I faced in my situation were negatively impacted by Covid,

the outcome is still positive for me. While I wasn’t able to pursue my first choice in
medicine, I was still able to continue school and earn a bachelors degree in another field
that interested me. Learning about the structural frame has taught me that I want to be
part of organizations where my voice will be heard and not lost in the crowd.

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 Reference or References