Learning Resources

Abstract: This article examines the leadership decisions and processes implemented by the Memphis College of Art (MCA), following the 2017 decision to close due to financial debt and declining enrollment. Rather than ceasing operations immediately, MCA leaders executed a three-year teach-out plan while liquidating assets, repaying debts, and laying off employees, all while ensuring a legally compliant dissolution. As many colleges face longevity pressures, this case offers a rare look at how closure can be managed transparently, strategically, and with commitment to student success through an integrated planning approach that aligns academic, financial, and facilities decisions during the institution’s final years.

Abstract: With over 100 programs and 113 sites across 28 states and multiple countries, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University faced mounting complexity in managing institutional changes. Previously, each change we made required meetings with up to 30 participants from more than 20 offices, including Financial Aid, Facilities, Academic Affairs, IT, and Site Management. Through integrated planning, we replaced that costly, time-intensive model with a SharePoint- based system for asynchronous collaboration. The shift fostered transparency, reduced delays, and empowered cross-functional alignment. The project exemplifies how intentional design and relationship-building can transform sprawling processes into coordinated, responsive systems prepared for institutional growth and change.

Abstract: Times of rapid change can interrupt operations and implementation efforts. Preventing this requires an ability to quickly adapt our programs and offerings to the changing landscape. Unfortunately, operational complexity and the disorienting nature of uncertainty become a hurdle to rapid response. Either we get overwhelmed trying to identify all that needs to change, or we respond haphazardly, missing crucial details. Contingency planning can help. It is a method for preparing for potential changes that identifies how operations and action plans need to shift in response. It can also be used to respond to changes after they happen. The Campus Contingency Planner is a template for lightweight, rapid contingency planning. It guides you through a process that identifies the impacts of change, how decisions during contingency planning will be made, and the operational components of programs and offerings that will need to be adapted in response. Whether you manage student-facing programs (like academic programs or student affairs activities), or direct services that are internally supportive (like space management or IT), the Campus Contingency Planner can help you respond to change with flexibility, minimizing disruption and moving your institution forward.

Abstract: Southeast Community College (SCC) applied an integrated framework approach to inform all aspects of its successful comprehensive accreditation review. Following decades of reviews leading to monitoring and focused visits to address opportunities for improvement, SCC managed its most recent comprehensive assessment through integrated planning to ensure the accreditation process coincided with building relationships, aligning divisions and departments, and promoting a culture that is well prepared for change. This structured and focused integrated planning method for comprehensive accreditation review was associated with a successful outcome that involved no monitoring or required follow-up for the first time in the College’s accreditation history.

Abstract: The death of George Floyd in 2020 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have renewed the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), particularly in higher education planning. As a result of this attention, higher education has reexamined its commitment to DEI. A student voice survey found that college students were underwhelmed by actions taken by their institutions to address DEI on campus (Inside Higher Education 2021). Institutional units across higher education require coordinated, integrated planning to meet student expectations. This article highlights the results of a study that examined professional development strategies for higher education professionals in the context of the post-George Floyd–era.

Abstract: Edited by Eugene L. Zdziarski, Norbert W. Dunkel, and J. Michael Rollo Routledge: Oxfordshire, England: 2021 388 Pages ISBN-13: 978-0367333720

Abstract: In turbulent times, visionary leaders and their committed crews recognize the winds of change, reset their sails and change course so they emerge in a better position than before. The global pandemic of 2020-21 has been a once-in-a-century disruption for education at all levels, which has magnified pre-existing inequities and vulnerabilities, and compressed a decade’s worth of social and technological change into a year. Even once this threat has past, many of our campuses will see recurrent disruptions from extreme weather events, other zoonotic viruses, geopolitical conflict, wildfires or flooding. We know now that business and academic continuity will demand flexible, lower density approaches and an integrated, omnichannel approach to student services, scholarship and learning. It can be challenging to step back from moments of crisis and see them in perspective, as moments also brimming with opportunity to regroup, rethink our strategies and refocus our resources to lead positive