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Blog Post

Published
March 1, 2022

Looking for Leaders

Strategies for Effective Executive Searches

To gain insight into how institutions can launch and manage effective leadership searches in this highly competitive market, we turned to SCUP Board of Directors Member Margaret (Peggy) Plympton, a principal at AGB Search.

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Webinar Recordings

Published
January 13, 2022

Higher Education Business Models Under Stress, Part 2

Graceful Business Model Transitions: Planning and Executing a College or Campus Closure

Join a panel discussion moderated by Rick Seltzer, senior editor of Higher Ed Dive, with guest panelists Melody Rose, author of AGB’s new book Higher Education Business Models Under Stress, and Lynn Priddy and James Lyons Sr., higher education leaders with experience closing financially distressed colleges and universities.
Abstract: Securing financial viability requires an engaged board that is monitoring the right trends and campus indicators, asking the right questions of campus leaders about the institution’s finances, and doing the scenario planning and stress testing necessary to transform a business model under stress.

The governing board’s fiduciary duty to steward the institution’s financial health requires that boards and leaders consider business model transformations, and plan for a range of scenarios like mergers, affiliations, strategic partnerships, and even—when all other options are exhausted—final transformations such as campus closures when continued mission fulfillment is impossible.

This is part two of a two-part webinar series delivered in partnership between SCUP and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), “Higher Education Business Models Under Stress: Planning for Successful Transitions”. This series will help build your fiduciary understanding of your institution’s business model as you prepare the campus for a range of possible business transformations, from mergers, strategic affiliations, corporate partnerships, or even the ultimate scenario of a campus closure. View the recording for part one, “Board Oversight of Finance and the Business Model: Key Indicators and Trends for Scenario Planning and Stress Testing”.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
December 15, 2021

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Teetering on the Demographic Cliff, Part 2

Turning Away from the Challenge Is the Riskiest Strategy of All

Higher education has faced major changes for some time—COVID-19 accelerated that volatility—and now we’re anticipating the demographic downslope in student enrollment. How and when should institutions mobilize for the difficult work of planning in the face of wrenching change?

From Volume 50 Number 1 | October–December 2021

Abstract: Part 1 of this series described a major contraction in the pool of college-going 18-year-olds that will reverse decades of growth and stability for higher education. Drawing on the path-breaking analysis of Carleton College economist Nathan Grawe, it outlined how widespread but variable the change will be, and discussed some of the effects—on enrollment, revenue, facilities, staffing, and more—for which colleges and universities should be preparing. This Part 2 explores these implications: How can we shape a planning context that supports success in the coming 10 or 20 years? What attitudes and skillsets will remain useful, and what may need to change?

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Webinar Recordings

Published
November 15, 2021

Higher Education Business Models Under Stress, Part 1

Board Oversight of Finance and the Business Model: Key Indicators and Trends for Scenario Planning and Stress Testing

Join a panel discussion on business model transformation moderated by Verne Sedlacek, vice board chair of Valparaiso University with guest panelists Melody Rose, coauthor of AGB’s new book, Higher Education Business Models Under Stress, and AGB consultants Carlton Brown and Larry Ladd, experts in higher education budgeting, finance, and strategic planning.
Abstract: Securing financial viability requires an engaged board that is monitoring the right trends and campus indicators, asking the right questions of campus leaders about the institution’s finances, and doing the scenario planning and stress testing necessary to transform a business model under stress.

The governing board’s fiduciary duty to steward the institution’s financial health requires that boards and leaders consider business model transformations, and plan for a range of scenarios like mergers, affiliations, strategic partnerships, and even—when all other options are exhausted—final transformations such as campus closures when continued mission fulfillment is impossible.

This is part one of a two-part webinar series delivered in partnership between SCUP and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), “Higher Education Business Models Under Stress: Planning for Successful Transitions”. This series will help build your fiduciary understanding of your institution’s business model as you prepare the campus for a range of possible business transformations, from mergers, strategic affiliations, corporate partnerships, or even the ultimate scenario of a campus closure. View the recording for part two, “Graceful Business Model Transitions: Planning and Executing a College or Campus Closure”.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
November 5, 2021

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The Integrated Triad

Apply the Three Time Horizons Perspective to Planning and Governance

An integrated model of three horizons, three areas of planning, and three types of governance is presented as a framework for institutional leadership.

From Volume 50 Number 1 | October–December 2021

Abstract: The global COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the world of higher education. As institutions look to the future, beyond the end of the pandemic, significant uncertainty exists. There is little question that colleges and universities will have to do a better job at planning, and boards at governing, to flourish in the years ahead. In this article an integrated model centered around three different time horizons, three areas of planning, and three types of governance is presented. The model can serve as a framework to demonstrate how these are all related, self-reinforcing, and usable as an aid for institutional leadership.

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Blog Post

Published
October 15, 2021

Back to The Future

Institutional Research, Then and Now

October 2021 marks Planning for Higher Education’s 50th issue! To celebrate, we’re looking back at earlier articles in Planning to reflect on how things change (and, sometimes, how they don’t). Although not a totally new concept, the need for data-informed decision-making in higher education today requires contemporary knowledge and skill from institutional research (IR) colleagues. They transform data into actionable information nuanced with contextualized insights that are essential in integrated academic planning.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
October 13, 2021

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Mission-Aligned Online Academic Programs at US Jesuit Institutions

Identify and Implement Practices That Mature the Development of Courses

A custom survey measured the process maturity involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating online offerings that reflected the principles of Ignatian Pedagogy.

From Volume 49 Number 4 | July–September 2021

Abstract: The purpose of the research was to observe process maturity associated with the design and development of mission-aligned online academic programs at Jesuit institutions in the United States. Twenty of the twenty-seven American Jesuit institutions were represented, including respondents who were most responsible for implementing the process used to design and develop online courses and programs. A custom survey was created to measure the process maturity involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating the design and development. The research design focused on narrative analysis of each institutional mission, which identified themes and keywords that were included in the custom survey.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
September 17, 2021

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Teetering on the Demographic Cliff, Part 1

Prepare Now for the Challenging Times Ahead

A long-term decline in birth rates raises fundamental planning questions for higher education as the pool of 18-year-olds contracts after 2025. How can planners and leaders use the time we have to prepare for some of the most wrenching changes in a generation?

From Volume 49 Number 4 | July–September 2021

Abstract: A long-term decline in birth rates raises fundamental planning questions for higher education as the pool of 18-year-olds contracts after 2025. This Planning for Higher Education series explores how planners and leaders can use the time we have to prepare for some of the most wrenching changes in a generation. This article, Part 1, surveys the planning horizon as we emerge from COVID-19 and describes the challenges ahead. Part 2 considers specific planning strategies institutions can adopt to meet the challenge. Part 3 tackles perhaps the most daunting challenge: how to mobilize institutions to actually do what needs to be done, however inconvenient (or worse) that may be.

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Conference Recordings

Published
July 15, 2021

Innovative Tools for Engaging Challenges in Collaborative Governance

Join our panel to discuss how traditionally underserved students are reshaping higher education and gain tools and solutions that you can apply to engagement efforts on your campus.
Abstract: Institutions need innovative student engagement strategies that cultivate collaborative governance in order to reflect changing learning paradigms and evolving societal needs, including recent pandemic-fueled inequities. This session will share diverse planner, leadership, faculty, and student perspectives on engagement and collaboration at North Orange County Community College. Join our panel to discuss how traditionally underserved students are reshaping higher education and gain tools and solutions that you can apply to engagement efforts on your campus.

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Tool

Published
April 20, 2021

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Reviewing and Updating Your Mission Statement

This toolkit will walk you through the steps of evaluating your current mission statement, facilitating the key conversations and decisions that underpin an effective mission statement, and writing a mission statement that serves your institution.
Abstract: An effective mission statement can act as an institution’s North Star—providing a distinct, constant direction that a college or university can travel towards. But frequently, college and university mission statements are too broad, too vague, or too outdated to help institutions navigate today’s challenges and opportunities.

This toolkit will help you craft a mission statement that is both inspirational and useful. It will walk you through the steps of evaluating your current mission statement, facilitating the key conversations and decisions that underpin an effective mission statement, and writing a mission statement that serves your institution.

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