From Policy to Practice: A Leadership Framework for Converting Symbolic Collaboration into Sustainable Credit Transfer Implementation in Higher Education

For higher-education leaders, a formal inter-institutional agreement is often treated as evidence of collaboration, yet an agreement on paper is no guarantee of one in practice. This study examines a theoretically extreme single case: a Korean university holding credit-transfer agreements with 31 partner institutions yet recording 0% utilization over five consecutive years (2019–2023), verified against institutional registrar and audit records. Drawing on institutional theory, we argue that decoupling persists not through a single barrier but through interlocking informational, procedural, and cultural mechanisms. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design—stakeholder surveys (students n = 37; faculty n = 15; staff n = 13), one expert focus group (n = 7), and a two-round Delphi panel (n = 16)—we identify and theorize the leadership and governance conditions that, on the available evidence, appear to sustain this gap. Although 54.1% of students (20 of 37) reported willingness to participate, they rated system functionality at 1.7/5.0, indicating a structural intention–behavior gap. Expert consensus (CVR > 0.75 across priority items) supports a five-stage, foundation-first intervention sequence. The findings offer leaders a practical diagnostic: an agreement’s existence says little about its operational health, and closing the gap requires deliberate leadership action rather than additional agreements. The proposed framework requires implementation testing.