Learning Resources

Abstract: With the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events continuing to increase across the country, the need for resilience planning is more critical than ever before.

Numerous campuses across the California State University (CSU) system have direct experience with wildfires, extended drought, floods, extreme heat, public safety power shutoffs, hurricanes, and sea level rise. The CSU is currently working toward increasing resilience in response to catastrophic events through systemwide technical guidance resources on building and infrastructure design and retrofit. These extreme conditions further prompted the need for vulnerability assessments systemwide and coordinated climate resilience planning and investment activities.

Using the activities of CSU climate action and adaptation planning, Wallace’s SCUP Fellows project sought to achieve three (3) primary objectives:

Review planning documents and policies that consider climate resiliency governance versus climate resiliency implementation.
Identify key stakeholders to develop a primer for addressing and incorporating campus-community implementation priorities.
Raise awareness with the broader higher education planning community to collect feedback and share model practices.
Join 2022-2023 SCUP Fellow Tamara Wallace as she shares her findings to help you and your team proactively plan for climate change to mitigate risks, prevent damage, and ensure continued learning from lived experiences.

Abstract: Build Capacity for Integrated Planning

Whether you’re preparing a committee for an upcoming planning process or simply looking for directions for your own professional development, the Integrated Planning Competencies can help you determine the knowledge, skills, and dispositions your institution needs to advance integrated planning.

Integrated planning requires building capacity in the people who do planning so they have the necessary knowledge and skills for success. But higher education institutions that focus only on developing planning-related expertise often face hurdles when they attempt integrated planning. Why? Because colleges and universities are complex environments and using an integrated planning approach in those environments requires a wide range of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Some of the required expertise might seem obvious (like writing goals or analyzing information). But some of it may be less so—particularly expertise related to “soft” skills or human skills, like communication or collaboration.

To provide more clear and specific guidance, SCUP identified competencies—knowledge, skills, and dispositions—that individuals need for successful integrated planning. We analyzed the experiences and viewpoints of around 300 planners and higher education administrators in order to surface the competencies—both obvious and inconspicuous—that underpin integrated planning success.

Abstract: Since 2011 Michigan’s Muskegon Community College has held all-campus meetings every Friday morning. Initially the meetings were for student services staff to share information and updates. When COVID-19 caused a rapid shift to virtual course and service delivery, meeting attendance more than tripled as the college community drew together to understand what was happening, what was needed from and expected of employees, and how to connect with colleagues when doing so in person was not possible.

Abstract: Higher education experienced extraordinary challenges in 2020 and tackled them head on with agility and creativity. Transformative leadership can help our institutions thrive even in the face of a world health disaster, its attendant fiscal challenges, and systemic racial and social injustice. This presentation will demonstrate how leaders can surmount these obstacles by aligning strategic priorities for the future. Come learn how to work across boundaries, differences, and beliefs while intentionally developing the essential skills and abilities you need to strengthen your institution and community.

Abstract: With the pandemic forcing education online, IT has become integral to keeping campuses moving forward. With a visionary team dedicated to student-centered experiences, the IT division at Minnesota State University, Mankato managed to quickly and successfully install new tech in more than 100 classrooms within months of COVID-19 first appearing. In this period of crisis, their information technology team created a campus-wide collaboration to introduce and integrate new course delivery opportunities. Outcomes of the large-scale project are seen as transformational and a key attractor for incoming students—regardless of where they are learning.

Abstract: An agile mindset exercised by leadership and distilled down into organizational culture is the prerequisite for any higher education institution planning to transform itself in an age of constant disruption. The post-pandemic world will continue to present new challenges for colleges and universities as they seek innovative solutions to plan for an ever increasing volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. Higher education leaders would serve themselves and their institutions well by learning how to practice the six attributes of an agile leader in a volatile world.

Abstract: Over the past year, the hospitality teams at Yale University and the University of Connecticut (UConn) have had to rethink their dining operations, shifting to a transactional approach to continue supporting student wellbeing. The two universities faced very different challenges: UConn, as one of the country's largest self-operated food service programs, focused on maintaining diverse options; Yale, as a transformational organization, committed to table gatherings and healthy, locally-sourced food. This session will explore how these programs have adapted to the current crisis and what their experiences teach us about the future of campus food service.

Abstract: Early in the pandemic, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) took deliberate steps to communicate, engage, and collaborate with its campus and surrounding neighborhood. These actions included health and safety measures and programs, channels for addressing concerns, and efforts to meet basic campus and community needs. This session will focus on how the university encouraged adherence to health and safety guidelines by using a framework emphasizing culture, education, compliance, and support. Come learn how Pitt fostered a sense of community and belonging, created volunteer experiences, and motivated students to comply with health and safety rules during a public health crisis.