Learning Resources

Transform Existing Planning and Implementation Processes

An Overview of the Webinar Series and Case Study of the MCPHS School of Pharmacy-Boston

By: Robert Brodnick, Sierra Learning Solutions | Robert DiCenzo, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences | Joseph (Tim) Gilmour, Strategic Initiatives, Inc. | Donald Norris, Strategic Initiatives, Inc.

Join us as a panel of experienced leaders provide an overview of a systematic approach for getting started on transformation.

Abstract: Join us as a panel of experienced leaders provide an overview of a systematic approach for getting started on transformation. The primary focus will be on how to redirect traditional strategic planning processes into ones that center on transformative and continuously adapting strategies rather than the relatively inflexible plans currently used by most institutions.

Additionally, presenters will describe how to transform existing ineffective approaches for the “implementation” of strategic plans through “orchestration.” This approach weaves together all of the ingredients needed for successful implementation—strong leadership, needed organizational capacity, necessary changes in culture, and measures to assess goal achievement.

Institutions Mentioned: Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Planning Types: Academic Planning, Campus Planning
Tags: Adaptable Plans, Disruptive Change, Higher Ed Trends, Implementation, Leadership, Medical / Allied Health Education, Organizational Change, Planning Processes, Trends External to Higher Ed

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Align Strategic, Physical, and Capital Planning for the Next Generation of Students

By: Jacob Guter, MPA, RA, and Doug Kozma, BSLA, PLA

Michigan Technological University used active stakeholder engagement, frequent reviews, and vigorous discussion to develop its aspirational master plan.

From Volume 51 Number 3 | April–June 2023

Abstract: Profound technological changes are occurring today, and universities need to prepare our students to work and live in this new world. Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech) is addressing the future of technology in society, academia, and the campus through our Tech Forward Strategic Plan, a bold enrollment and retention initiative, an aggressive capital campaign, and a dynamic hiring initiative. Our aspirational campus master plan, developed in partnership with SmithGroup, an integrated design firm, integrates and supports these initiatives and goals. Active stakeholder engagement, frequent reviews, and vigorous discussion allowed us to craft a campus master plan aligning strategic, physical, and capital planning that supports and drives the university’s 2035 Vision.

Institutions Mentioned: Michigan Technological University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Campus Master Planning, Community Engagement, Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Assessment, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Innovation Center, Laboratory Facility, Landscape / Open Space, Placemaking, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), Science / Engineering Facility, Space Assessment, Student Housing

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Blog Post

Published
March 17, 2023

Cultivating 55+ Communities on Campus

Higher Education and Senior Living

By: Apryl Motley, CAE, SASM

To gain insight into the potential opportunities and obstacles university-based retirement communities (UBRCs) present for higher education, we turned to Andrew Carle, adjunct faculty member, senior living administration for Georgetown University’s Master of Science Program in Aging & Health.

Institutions Mentioned: Georgetown University, Indiana University-Bloomington, Iowa State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Resource Planning
Tags: Demographics, Higher Ed Trends, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), Real Estate, Town and Gown, Trends External to Higher Ed

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Book Review: The Agile College

How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Changes

By: Bryan C. Harvey, EdD

From Volume 51 Number 2 | January–March 2023

Abstract: The Agile College: How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Changes
by Nathan D. Grawe
Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore: 2021
298 pages
ISBN: 978-1421440231

Does hope motivate action or complacency? Does crisis induce change or despair? Nathan D. Grawe readily acknowledges this tension in The Agile College, his follow-up book to his 2018 Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education. The latter propelled the inescapable discussion throughout higher education of the looming “demographic cliff.” The Agile College suggests how agile institutions might prevent demography from becoming destiny.

Planning Types: Strategic Enrollment Management Planning
Tags: Change Management, COVID-19, Demographics, Disruptive Change, Recovery Planning, Resiliency, Shrinking Pool of Potential Students, Student Demographics, Student Recruitment, Student Retention, Trends External to Higher Ed

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Walking for Wellness

“Feeling Maps” Can Help Planners to Create Campus Routes that Improve Student Well-Being

By: David Spooner, ASLA, PLA

Planners at the University of Georgia used “feeling maps” to help identify and create healthier connections for faculty, students, and staff traversing between campus destinations.

From Volume 51 Number 2 | January–March 2023

Abstract: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an effort to address physical and mental well-being on campuses has become a focus. One overlooked opportunity to improve student welfare lies beneath their feet: enhancing campus walkability. Planners at the University of Georgia used “feeling maps” to help identify and create healthier connections for faculty, students, and staff traversing between campus destinations.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Georgia
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Health and Wellness, Landscape / Open Space, Original Research, Placemaking, Student Experience

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You Belong Here

Plan for and Design Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Campus Spaces

By: Shannon Dowling, MArch, AIA, LEEDAP

Many marginalized student populations don’t see themselves as higher education material. Creating places on campus that reaffirm to them that they belong is vital.

From Volume 51 Number 1 | October–December 2022

Abstract: When carefully considered and thoughtfully planned, physical campus space has the power to reinforce an institution’s values around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Institutions Mentioned: Virginia Commonwealth University, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Ryerson University, Chapman University, Bennett College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Health and Wellness, Informal Learning Environments, Landscape / Open Space, Learning Environments, Original Research, Placemaking, Student Experience, Underserved Students

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Conference Recordings

Published
November 2, 2022

2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium | November

Reckoning with Entangled Histories

Higher Education and Slavery

By: Fanchon (Chon) Glover, College of William and Mary | Amber Hall, College of William and Mary | Samuel Hayes, College of William and Mary | Ben Carton, George Mason University | Wendi Manuel Scott, George Mason University | Cathy Pinskey, George Mason University | Dereck J. Rovaris, Sr., St. Mary's College of Maryland | Maurice Schlesinger, St. Mary's College of Maryland | Louis Nelson, University of Virginia | Alice Raucher, University of Virginia | Stephanie Wolfgang, Perkins&Will

In this symposium, four institutions will share their approaches to these complicated questions and how they’re continuing the conversation around the legacy of slavery on their campuses.

Abstract: American higher education institutions have a long, complex history with slavery that shouldn’t be ignored. Reckoning with these historical ties—from slave-owning namesakes to the enslaved laborers who constructed campus buildings—generates difficult questions for colleges and universities:

How do we honor those who were enslaved?
How do we recognize our role in the history of slavery as a means of learning from the past to guide our future?

In this symposium, four institutions will share their approaches to these complicated questions and how they’re continuing the conversation around the legacy of slavery on their campuses.

Institutions Mentioned: College of William and Mary, George Mason University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, University of Virginia-Main Campus
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Historic Preservation, Landscape / Open Space, Placemaking, Racial Equity, SCUP 2022 Mid-Atlantic Symposium | November, Student Engagement

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Social Equity and the Modern Campus

Framework Plans Level the Playing Field for All Students

By: Brodie Bain, MArch, FAIA, AICP, LEED AP

Campus framework plans for Oregon State University and Bellevue College fully integrate social equity with engagement processes and physical solutions to improve the sense of welcome and inclusion.

From Volume 50 Number 4 | July–September 2022

Abstract: The article explores campus design implications for socially equitable college and university environments. Two institutions that carry the value of social equity as dominant themes in their mission and strategic plans are showcased. Bellevue College’s equity plan acts as the cornerstone for social justice on campus. Oregon State University’s new Strategic Plan 4.0 includes sense of belonging and inclusion as core values. For both, the physical campus framework plans, used to guide campus development and design over time, fully integrate social equity through processes of engagement and physical solutions that improve a sense of welcome and inclusion.

Institutions Mentioned: Oregon State University, Bellevue College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Alignment, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Landscape / Open Space, Placemaking, Student Experience, Underserved Students

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How Do You Grow and Sustain Indispensable Planners?

By: Donald M. Norris, PhD, Strategic Initiatives, Inc. | Joseph (Tim) Gilmour, PhD, Strategic Initiatives, Inc. | Linda B. Baer, PhD, Strategic Initiatives, Inc. | Michael D. Moss, Society for College and University Planning

Institutional transformation requires more than a planner or a strategist—it requires a transformation architect. How can leaders grow and support transformation architects? The authors of Transforming for Turbulent Times: An Action Agenda for Higher Education Leaders, share three sets of actions needed to enable and empower transformation architects.

Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Tags: Change Management, Disruptive Change, Higher Ed Trends, Organizational Change

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Blog Post

Published
July 6, 2022

What Is a Bridge Plan?

(And Does Your Institution Need One?)

By: Sadie Wutka, Director of Content Strategy, SCUP

A bridge plan allows a college or university to continue to pursue defined strategic pathways during times of uncertainty or rapid, unpredictable change. It’s also a good solution for when faculty and staff are overwhelmed due to a highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment.

Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Tags: Adaptable Plans, Bridge Planning, Change Management, COVID-19, Disruptive Change, Modifying the Plan, Organizational Change

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