The critical elements of the change process were designed into the strategic planning process and the pilot project for the Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) at the University of Maryland. These elements were: Support by the institutional leadership; a critical mass of interested participants from diverse groups across the organization, committed to the project and with ownership of the plan; a motivating level of dissatisfaction with the status quo; the construction of a scenario describing the desired future and an assessment of needs to achieve it; technical and consulting help; a pilot project with replicable features to demonstrate the concept and feasibility of the approach; and participation of opinion leaders initially with later identification of additional opinion leaders who would become part of the pattern of acceptance of the innovation and diffusion of the technology across the campus.