Planning Through the Pandemic to a Sustainable Future
By: James Downey, Vice President for Planning & Institutional Effectiveness, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary | Nicholas Santilli, Senior Director of Learning Strategy, SCUP, and Former Provost, John Carroll University
Higher education has become accustomed to a volatile environment. Volatile environments create significant degrees of ambiguity, complexity, and uncertainty. How do institutions navigate through this volatile environment? Scenario planning.
Abstract: Scenario planning generates multiple well-crafted contradictory narratives about the future to anticipate possible outcomes of environmental forces with the potential to impact an institution. It is important to note that scenario planning does not seek to predict an uncertain future. Instead, engaging in scenario planning provides an institution with the capacity to plan for potential outcomes that may interrupt institutional progress.